Stephen Johnson is back at full speed this week

Mark Zerof | USA Today

Great news heading into Saturday’s big game vs. Louisville: according to Mark Stoops, quarterback Stephen Johnson will be back at full speed this week in practice. It came as a surprise to many of us, but Johnson suffered a knee injury vs. Tennessee and didn’t start vs. Austin Peay; however, after the Cats got off to a terrible start, he came in to relieve Luke Wright and steadied the ship, leading Kentucky to 49 straight points. Fortunately, Stoops said Johnson didn’t suffer any setbacks vs. the Governors.

“There was no setback yesterday when he came to get his treatment,” Stoops said. “There’s no swelling, he came out of the game fine. That was good to hear.”

Even though Stephen didn’t practice last week because of his knee, he was 5/9 for 101 yards and two touchdowns vs. Austin Peay and threw several beautiful long passes. To Stoops, Johnson playing through the pain to lead Kentucky’s comeback is yet another testament to his toughness and character.

“It’s hard not to admire Stephen Johnson and see him play hurt. He’s been banged up. He was hurt last week. To see him come in and have the poise and confidence, you could see that with the team. Threw a beautiful pass, I think that was his first pass, he laid it out there. I think that was great for our football team and says a lot about who Stephen is. He’s a tough guy, like I mentioned after the game, and he’s a leader and I’ve been very pleased with him.” 

We all have.