Notebook: QB Jason Bean suiting up for practices, but still ‘day to day’ for KU football
Kansas quarterback Jason Bean (17) gets past Kansas State linebacker Daniel Green (22) during the first half of an NCAA football basketball game against Kansas Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021, in Lawrence, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Kansas football head coach Lance Leipold still wasn’t sure on Tuesday whether his team’s starting quarterback, Jason Bean, will be able to play for the Jayhawks this week at Texas.
“We’ll see,” Leipold said at his weekly press conference. Both Bean and senior QB Miles Kendrick were hurt in a matter of minutes during the first half of KU’s home loss to rival Kansas State over the weekend. Sophomore Jalon Daniels manned the position the rest of the game.
Bean suited up for the Jayhawks’ practice on Tuesday.
“He did what we asked him, is probably the best way to say it,” Leipold replied, when asked whether Bean was able to participate more in the morning practice than he did during Monday’s session. “He’s not ruled out of this game.”
Leipold described Bean’s status as “day to day,” and acknowledged the staff will need to decide at some point in the next couple days whether Bean is good enough to play at UT on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ESPNU).
If Bean doesn’t play, Daniels will start versus the Longhorns (4-5 overall, 2-4 Big 12). One positive in the whole situation, Leipold said, is that Daniels, a starter through most of the 2020 season, was ready to step in for the Jayhawks (1-8, 0-6).
“I really tip my hat to him, because he stayed locked in and prepared,” Leipold said. “And I think that showed (versus K-State), and it shows itself again this week (during practices).”
The starting QB in every KU game so far this season, Bean has completed 56% of his 182 passes, with six touchdowns and six interceptions. In his nine starts, Bean, who joined the program over the summer as a transfer from North Texas, is averaging 139.1 passing yards and 44.3 rushing yards a game.
Daniels started six of KU’s nine games in 2020, when he was a true freshman. Against K-State, Daniels went 13-for-19, with 105 passing yards and one TD.
Kendrick’s future with KU
Kendrick’s season came to an early ending, due to the veteran QB suffering a lower leg injury during the K-State game. But his time with the program could continue in 2022.
Though Kendrick is listed on the roster as a redshirt senior, the NCAA’s COVID waiver for the 2020 season gives him and KU the potential to extend his college career.
Leipold said, as of Tuesday, the coaches hadn’t brought up the topic with Kendrick.
“There’s a lot going on with him that, this isn’t the time to discuss that,” Leipold said.
Kendrick, a 5-foot-10, 203-pound QB who is originally form Morgan Hill, Calif., first joined the program as a junior college transfer in 2018. He appeared in four games that year, as a sophomore, before using it as a redshirt season.
In 2019, when Carter Stanley emerged as KU’s starting QB, Kendrick didn’t play at all. Then, in 2020, as a redshirt junior, Kendrick started twice and played in seven of the team’s nine games.
When Kendrick briefly checked into KU’s game vs. K-State, it marked his fourth appearance of the 2021 season.
In 15 career appearances for the Jayhawks, Kendrick is 96-for-157 as a passer, with 853 passing yards, nine TDs and six interceptions.
Walk-on WR Brown transferring
A redshirt freshman walk-on and receiver for KU football, Jordan Brown announced Monday his decision to leave the program and enter the transfer portal.
A 5-foot-11, 188-pound receiver from Grand Prairie, Texas, Brown thanked former head coach Les Miles, KU receivers coach Emmett Jones and the current staff in a note he posted to social media.
“I have made the decision that I feel is best for me and my future,” Brown wrote regarding his pending transfer and his desire to seek another opportunity.
Brown appeared in two games as a reserve in 2020. He recorded his first career catch for four yards against Iowa State, but that was the last time he checked into a game for the Jayhawks. Brown didn’t appear in any of KU’s first nine games this year.
As a high school senior, Brown played at DeSoto High (Texas), where he was teammates with KU redshirt freshman receiver Lawrence Arnold.





