We are officially under three weeks until there is football in Lexington, however, with the season approaching soon, that means there is more physical practices and scrimmages to get ramped up for game play. Along with that, that unfortunately brings the increased chances of pre-season injuries. This past Saturday, Kentucky held a scrimmage at Kroger Field where media was able to attend.

We were informed during the interviews that Hardley Gilmore IV has been injured, sidelining him right before the start of the season.

Gilmore is an incoming freshman from Belle Glade, Florida. The talented wideout had been working his way up the depth chart during the preseason. The apparent injury appears to be a broken clavicle, or also known as “collarbone”. Although we don’t know the full extent of Gilmore’s injury, we are hopeful that he has a speedy recovery.

With all that being said, a broken collarbone would take a minimum of six weeks for a full recovery. In some cases, it can take up to ten weeks. I would throw out an educated guess and say that timeframe is more reasonable. If that is the case then that would put Gilmore coming back the week that Kentucky hosts Auburn.

That is a lot to ask of anyone. It is especially difficult for an incoming freshman getting used to physical SEC play. They have to come in off of an injury to face a conference opponent, a tough task to ask even at full health. Kentucky has a decent amount of depth at the wide receiver position, however, this is still a big blow this early into the season.

Head Coach Mark Stoops will have to consider using a medical redshirt on Hardley Gilmore IV to save a year of his eligibility if this goes as expected.