Kansas head coach Lance Leipold before the start of an NCAA college football game against Oklahoma on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022, in Norman, Okla. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

After watching his team grind through 12 consecutive weeks of relentless pursuit of football relevance, Kansas football coach Lance Leipold opened the Jayhawks’ bye week with a simple message.

“What I said to them this morning was, ‘If you want to have an opportunity to play in December or January, you have to play well in November,” Leipold said Monday. “We have that opportunity to play in one of those two months if we play well in November.”

That message was similar to the one he shared with the team a year ago. And while it produced the desired result during Leipold’s first year with the program — Kansas was 1-3 last November, with three games decided by a single score — repeating the feat would be even more meaningful this time around.

As the end of October draws near, the Jayhawks sit just one win shy of becoming bowl eligible for the first time since the 2008 season.

With consecutive losses to TCU, Oklahoma and Baylor fresh on their minds after the team’s 5-0 start, the Jayhawks will forge ahead to face a schedule that currently features No. 9 Oklahoma State, No. 22 Kansas State, a Texas team that sits at No. 26 in the national polls and a 4-3 Texas Tech team that boasts wins over Houston, Texas and West Virginia.

“This schedule’s not going to get any easier,” Leipold said last week before the Jayhawks’ 35-23 loss at Baylor.

While last weekend’s loss to Baylor featured KU falling into a 28-3 hole, it also produced one of the biggest moments of perspective for Leipold and the Jayhawks so far this season.

“We’re pretty frustrated,” Leipold said Monday. “Obviously, we fell behind by a lot and battled back, but we lost by 12, right? A year ago, we lost by 12 to Oklahoma and everybody stood up and clapped. So, this program’s come a long way and we’re proud of that. And (if) people are frustrated by 12-point losses we’re probably where we need to be. Now we’ve got to get it fixed.”

That’s what the Jayhawks will spend the rest of the bye week trying to do, from getting healthy and self-scouting to getting a jump-start on their preparation for the Nov. 5 home game against Oklahoma State.

“Obviously we’ve got to get healthier,” Leipold said Monday. “But we’ve got to keep it holistic, where we can be as physically and mentally healthy (as possible) but ready to be challenged (this week), too.”

The week ahead

After an off day on Sunday and a day full of meetings and lifting on Monday, the Jayhawks will return to the practice field Tuesday and they will practice for three consecutive days this week.

In addition to the players getting a chance to heal their bodies, Leipold said the coaching staff would use the bye week to put an extra emphasis on recruiting, as well.

Overall, though, the week will be about managing the down time while getting better at the same time.

After a conditioning day with strength coach Matt Gildersleeve on Friday, the Jayhawks will be off again on Saturday before jumping back into the regular routine on Oct. 30.

“That’s a full week of a lot of things,” Leipold said. “It’s going to be a good time, in our practice models, (to work) with some of the younger players and some guys that have a high volume of game snaps probably won’t take as many reps at least in the first couple of days. So, it’s a great time to get a lot done.”

Injury update?

Because Kansas did not practice on Monday, Leipold did not provide any specific updates on any of the injured Jayhawks or a timetable for their return.

Of the bye week, Leipold said simply, “I hope it helps them all.”

The KU coach did say Monday that KU’s injury list “got longer yesterday,” and added that the injuries the Jayhawks have suffered so far this season have been “probably a little bit more on the higher side at the skill positions” than what he has experienced in the past.

Leipold added that head football trainer Trent Carter and his staff, along with KU’s team doctors, were “the best I’ve been around.”

“They do an excellent job in the treatment of our student-athletes, their response and how we’re able to get things done,” Leipold said. “If there’s a way to get them on the field, in a healthy, safe way within the game of football, they do a great job with that.”