Lonnie Phelps is covering kickoffs and other takeaways from Kansas football’s recent open practice

LAWRENCE — Kansas football’s open practice Saturday allowed fans the opportunity to see the Jayhawks up close as the season opener approaches.

Senior tight end Mason Fairchild saw it as a fan appreciation day and senior linebacker Rich Miller valued being able to showcase what they’d been working on in front of a limited crowd. Head coach Lance Leipold praised the weather and the turnout, while noting the practice provided them a chance to get some guys more reps who’d missed time in recent weeks due to illness.

And there were certainly a fair share of highlight-reel plays, like a tough catch in the end zone by redshirt sophomore tight end Jared Casey.

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Here are some takeaways from it, as that Sept. 2 game against Tennessee Tech draws near:

Two key Jayhawks have been missing time

Leipold noted the team has felt pretty fortunate that it’s been able to avoid any substantial injuries so far, comparatively to some other Big 12 Conference programs. There is still some ways to go before the opener next month, but it’s a certainly a positive for this group ahead of Leipold’s second season leading Kansas. However, there were a couple of noteworthy individuals who didn’t participate.

Neither super-senior defensive lineman Caleb Sampson nor redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Armaj Reed-Adams practiced Saturday. Sampson and Reed-Adams are in contention for starting spots. Leipold explained the two had been unavailable for most of the week and that he expects to get them back soon.

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Watch for Lonnie Phelps on kickoffs

Redshirt junior defensive end Lonnie Phelps is expected to be a valuable pass rusher for the Jayhawks this fall. He was at Miami (Ohio) and has shown why since transferring to Kansas ahead of the upcoming season. But sacking opposing quarterbacks isn’t the only thing Phelps will be doing.

Phelps was covering kickoffs during the open practice, and Leipold wasn’t shy when it came to the reason why. Leipold said while Phelps’ head coach at Miami (Ohio), Chuck Martin, didn’t want to lose Phelps, Martin did tell Leipold that Phelps better be on kickoffs because Phelps is the best Martin’s ever had.

Also, Phelps wants to be in that role.

Leipold thinks that desire from Phelps can be contagious in the locker room, because younger players will see a potential starter like Phelps willing to be used in that way. While no one is recruited to be a special teams player like that, someone does have to do it. If a player has aims of making it to the NFL, showing their value on special teams could be beneficial.

More: Rich Miller has become ‘kind of the heart’ of what Kansas football’s defense is about

The focus is shifting more and more to Tennessee Tech

Fall camp was a grind, Fairchild said, but now there’s a game in sight. The excitement is building, and it’s almost as if time is slowing down the closer that first contest gets. With school starting up, he noted their schedule will start to resemble more of what it did during spring ball — practice in the morning, afternoons to focus on school.

Leipold said he would hope that this close to the opener that people would start to get excited like that. They’ve been putting in work for the better part of the year preparing for it. The closer they get, the more they’ll start to work on installing what they’ll do against Tennessee Tech.

“I’ve been having dreams about it, low-key,” said Miller, the senior linebacker. "I’m too excited. Like, I’m ready to play against somebody else and really just show the world what we’ve got for real. That’s really what I’m excited for.

"I’m ready to show everybody the work we’ve put in this whole year, how we came closer as a team and things like that. It’s super exciting, man. I’m more excited this year than I was last year.”

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Takeaways from Kansas football’s open practice, as 2022 opener nears