No Season-Ending Injuries For The Utes, Cam Rising, Dalton Kincaid Day-To-Day

SALT LAKE CITY- Some very encouraging news came out of head coach Kyle Whittingham’s Monday press conference- there are no season-ending injuries for Utah after Washington State. However, there are guys who are banged up, most notably quarterback Cam Rising and tight end Dalton Kincaid who will be day-to-day as Utah prepares to host Arizona at 5:30 p.m. MT on Saturday.

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Last Thursday in Pullman, Rising threw everyone for a bit of a loop opting to sit out of the game after not feeling like he could go during warm-ups. Whittingham emphasized the choice was Rising’s and it came with 30 or 40 minutes to kickoff.

Kincaid on the other hand played most of the game, however, his last play- Utah’s final touchdown of the night saw him leave the field and not return.

Neither injury appears to be long term and Whittingham seems hopeful that both players will return, though he was not quick to state whether that would be against the Wildcats this weekend.

Whittingham On Rising’s Injury

Whittingham said that if Rising says he can’t play, he really can’t play. The coach described his QB1 as someone who can’t stand to sit on the bench, and knowing him for almost four years now, trusts when he says it would be better for his backup to play.

“Just having spent three-plus years with him now on a daily basis,” Whittingham said of Rising’s decision to bench himself on Thursday. “Knowing him, his character, his personality, his competitiveness- his makeup, the whole thing. There is not a guy on the team who wants to win worse than him and just disdains sitting out. He doesn’t want to sit out; he wants to play.”

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— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) October 29, 2022

Whittingham indicated that the hiccup with Rising last week happened day of the game, but that there wasn’t a specific reason to point to like a practice accident or warmup accident that would have aggravated the injury. It was just a case of taking a step back from a trajectory that would have had Rising playing. The good news is Whittingham says Rising is even further ahead this week than he was last week.

“Cam is much further ahead today than he was a week ago today,” Whittingham said. “He was on schedule to be the guy. We’ll have a better answer for you- though you won’t get an answer, tomorrow, or Wednesday.”

Whittingham finished up talking about the possibility of Rising being back on the field on Saturday with a simple “hope so”.

“We hope so,” Whittingham said. “We hope so.”

Whittingham On Kincaid’s Injury

It appears a little less is known about Kincaid’s injury and just how quickly he will get back on the field. Whittingham did discuss with the media about the tight ends he expects to help ease Kincaid’s burden while he either sits or even plays limitedly.

“The guys who are healthy,” Whittingham said. “Thomas Yassmin, Logan Kendall- though he’s a different type of tight end. He’s been more of a blocker for us and done a great job, he’s very valuable in that role. Munir McClain, Taniela Pututau and that’s pretty much the end of the line right there.”

Kincaid was on with Jake and Ben simultaneously during Whittingham’s press conference and told the guys he wouldn’t discuss details of his injury but will be taking things day-by-day this week in the lead up to Utah hosting Arizona.

Dalton Kincaid on his availability against Arizona Football this weekend for @Utah_Football after his shoulder injury:

"That's not something I am going to discuss. I'm just going to take it day by day to see how I'm feeling."@KSLSports | @KSLSportsZone

— Jake and Ben (@JakeAndBenZone) October 31, 2022

Whittingham also would not talk about how strong the possibility of Kincaid playing this week was- partially because it’s still early in the week but did indicate some minor adjustments would need to be made on offense in the case his star tight end was a no-go.

“Well yeah, you tweak the game plan,” Whittingham said. “I wouldn’t say drastically, but the wide receivers become more prevalent in what you are doing and again, Thomas and the guys available need to step up and pick up some of the slack. It’s early. It’s only Monday so we will see how things develop through the course of the week. I don’t want to call it a ‘plan b’, but a modification of what you are doing.”

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