A peek inside KU football’s 9th spring practice

By Staff     Apr 17, 2018

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Kansas wide receiver Steven Sims Jr. (11) hits a pad as he runs through a drill during practice on Tuesday, April 17, 2018.

Tuesday afternoon’s Kansas football practice marked the ninth of the spring for the Jayhawks.

The brief 15-minute window made open to media members provided at least a little bit of insight into some of the more minor details of the off-season work.

Here are a few observations from the open period:

• Kansas, on this day at least, had **just a handful of players taking reps at punt returner** as most of their teammates went through stretches and warm-ups elsewhere on the practice fields.

Joining senior receiver Steven Sims Jr. on the south end of the facility fielding punts were sophomore receivers Quan Hampton and Kwamie Lassiter II, senior receiver Kerr Johnson Jr. and sophomore safety Davon Ferguson, a junior college transfer from Hartnell College.

• Senior quarterback **Peyton Bender worked on his quick kicks** before passing drills began. On one attempt the QB punted the ball directly toward the pylon at the front of the end zone, along the right sideline. The ball appeared to head out of bounds in the air, right around the 1- or 2-yard-line, prompting head coach David Beaty to joke with Bender, claiming that specific placement wasn’t what the QB intended when he punted the ball away.

• Redshirt senior kicker **Gabriel Rui looked just as accurate as ever**, drilling field goals from 37, 42 and 47 yards, connecting on one as Beaty tried to distract him a few yards away with taunts of a pending misfire.

• **Sophomore QB Miles Kendrick served as holder** on the field goals for Rui. When left-footed sophomore Liam Jones took his reps, junior defensive back Bryce Torneden, who played QB in high school at Free State, came in to hold.

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