KU football update: QB Jason Bean has missed some practice time because of illness

Kansas quarterback Jason Bean, who started nine games a year ago for the 2-10 Jayhawks, but is expected to be backup to Jalon Daniels during the 2022 season, has missed practice the past couple of days, second-year KU football coach Lance Leipold reported Monday.

“He is ill. We’ve had some(thing) been going around with guys missing (time) the last month,” Leipold said Monday in his weekly preseason camp interview session with reporters.

“It’s kind of run its course with guys coming back. He’s had a good first week. It’s too bad he’s not able to go,” Leipold added of Bean, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound redshirt senior from Mansfield, Texas.

With Bean sidelined, QBs Ben Easters and Ethan Vasko have taken over the snaps that do not go to Daniels, Leipold said.

Easters is a 6-3 redshirt freshman from Brownsburg, Indiana; Vasko a 6-4 freshman from Chesapeake, Virginia.

“Ben Easters and Ethan Vasko are picking all those (reps) up,” Leipold said. “For us we’ve got a quarterback out. Now Ethan quickly gets thrown into the mix a little bit more and kind of thrown in the fire and it’s good to see. He’ll get a great chance to kind of develop as he and Ben will battle for that third spot,” Leipold added.

Daniels, a 6-foot junior from Lawndale, California, has continued to play well at practice, Leipold said. The Jayhawks are in week two of training camp with the season opener against Tennessee Tech set for 7 p.m., Sept. 2 at Memorial Stadium.

“His understanding of what we’re doing first and foremost,” Leipold said of how Daniels has improved since last season. He led the Jayhawks to a road win over Texas while starting the last three games of the 2021 season.

“Just verbage and confidence and where that’s at as far as knowing that he can do it and lead it and articulate it and all those things that you want and need out of your quarterback. Right now. I still think there’s throws and accuracy in some of those quick decisions that he’s got to continue to improve on as we keep challenging (him) here in camp,” Leipold added.

Also, Jared Casey, a 6-foot redshirt sophomore tight end from Plainville, Kansas, has been out with a hamstring injury. Rich Miller, a 6-1 senior linebacker from Detroit, has been out with illness, Leipold said.

“Casey has a hamstring right now. We’re going to have those guys (back),” Leipold stated. “There are other guys out there. We’ll keep fighting through this.”