Kansas State gets good injury news on one defender, but loses another for season
Kansas State defensive back A.J. Parker limping off the field with an ankle injury was one of the few things that didn’t go right for the Wildcats during their blowout victory against Kansas over the weekend.
But it sounds like Parker will return to action sooner rather than later.
“We don’t believe it to be severe,” K-State football coach Chris Klieman said of Parker’s injury on Monday. “We will kind of see how he progresses this week. our trainers said it was more day-to-day ... We feel pretty good that it will not be a long-term injury.”
For now, it is unclear if Parker will be healthy enough to suit up for the Wildcats when they play their next game at West Virginia on Saturday.
But K-State is hoping he makes a speedy recovery.
Parker has emerged as one of the team’s top defenders since switching positions from cornerback to nickelback earlier this season. The senior from Bartlesville, Oklahoma has made 22 tackles and broken up four passes for the Wildcats. He also intercepted a pass against TCU and returned it for a touchdown that proved to be pivotal during a 21-14 victory three weeks ago.
He injured his ankle trying to block a punt against the Jayhawks. He left the game after making three tackles.
K-State’s secondary got by fine without him after he left the KU game with injury, but that might not be so easy against future opponents.
Regardless of Parker’s injury timeline, the Wildcats will be without at least one defensive back moving forward.
T.J. Smith, a freshman defensive back from Powder Springs, Georgia, will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL, according to a message he shared on Twitter.
“I found out I’d be out for the season with a torn ACL,” he wrote. “At first I thought why me, but God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers. I hate not being out there with my brothers, but I know they’ll hold it down. I’ll be ball 100x better.”
Smith played in all four of K-State’s first four games and showed promise while making four tackles as a safety against Texas Tech. But he apparently suffered a season-ending injury at some point during practice before the KU game and will now begin working toward next year.