Kansas quarterback Michael Cummings to undergo knee surgery

In a spring game, you don't ask for much. Obviously, you want your team to look as good as possible, but perhaps more than anything, you hope to get through it without any injuries. Unfortunately, Kansas was not able to live up to either of these hopes, as the team looked pedestrian at best and projected starting QB Michael Cummings went down early with a knee injury at the end of a scramble.

Today, we've learned that Cummings will require surgery to repair the unspecified knee injury. Details on the nature of the injury and recovery time are scant right now, but this quote from David Beaty doesn't sound encouraging:

"Michael sustained a left knee injury that is going to require surgery," said Kansas coach David Beaty in a Monday statement. "Following his surgery he will work diligently, alongside our medical staff, to get back to the field as quickly as possible."

It would certainly seem that if this were a minor injury, Beaty would have given some sort of timeline or details. The nebulous nature of his comments would suggest that Cummings' season is very much in doubt, leaving the quarterback position somewhat up for grabs.

Junior Montell Cozart seems the likeliest candidate to step in and start if Cummings can't go. He is the only other signal caller on the roster with starting experience, and was said to be battling for the starting job anyway (though most indications were that the job would go to Cummings). TJ Millweard could also contend for the job, though the previous staff never really gave him a shot and he appeared to be definitively behind Cozart and Cummings through spring camp. The roster also includes two walk-ons, and two incoming freshman who will be in Lawrence for fall camp in August.

No matter how you look at it, this is bad news for a program that can't take much more. If you're scrambling (so to speak) for silver linings, this does open up the competition for the younger guys. If one of them, particularly incoming freshmen Stanley Carter or Ryan Willis, can step up and earn playing time, it could get them valuable experience for the coming years in which there will be more expectations. For now though, the rebuilding year we were expect in 2015 just got a little bit tougher.