The House of Blue

###DT Donte Rumph is the only player who was up in the air this week who isn't likely to play (he has not practiced this week), which means Kentucky is the healthiest it has been for a SEC game this season according to Joker Phillips. The secondary should be in much better shape with Neloms and Benton back as well. Interestingly, Phillips noted that UK has basically started a true freshman QB in each of its last 12 (counting this week) SEC games. It's actually 10 since Matt Roark started the Tennessee game, but I get what his point was.

"This would be considered healthy," Phillips said. "Our last 12 SEC games we've played if you take out nine plays Morgan played last year in the Mississippi State game and two plays that Max played this year in the South Carolina game we've started a true freshman quarterback in 11 of them. Morgan starting in the Florida game with a bad shoulder and didn't know he was starting until warmups. It means you're 1-8, that's what it typically means. We're 1-8. The guys are doing a great job but again, your margin for error is really small when you're playing with a true freshman quarterback."

###I asked Phillips what Matt Smith and Larry Warford have meant to the younger players on that offensive line:

"Those guys have meant the world to those (young guys)," Phillips said. "We started the season with two returning starters and not a lot of experience up front and that's probably been one of our most consistent groups. The last few weeks after the games I've pulled a few plays to talk about the type of effort that we're seeing and those guys have been in a lot of those plays, especially Larry. Larry is a really good football player and I think it's rubbed off on some of those other guys up front. They are wanting to get on that reel also and all of them have been on it at some time or another. Zach West is a guy that's been banged up but he doesn't want to come out, he wants to be with his guys."

Phillips said both guys will get shots at the NFL but Warford is clearly the player NFL scouts talk about most when they take in a UK practice:

"Larry is the first guy – there are a couple of other guys also – but Larry is the first guy everybody talks about," Phillips said. "He's a guy that's projected as a high pick, one of the top two guards in country and he's playing like it. He's played outstanding. He played against two of the best interior defensive linemen (in the country) the last two weeks and Larry has done really well against them. We run behind him."

###Phillips said the fumbling issues from last week at Missouri have not continued into this week. The staff was just as puzzled about those problems as everyone else. Kentucky had not lost a fumble since losing two in the opener against Louisville:

"No, but there is not a lot of hitting though," Phillips said. "That had not been an issue since the first game of the season. We had not put the ball on the ground, but it showed up Saturday and when you put the ball on the ground on the road in an SEC environment it usually equals disaster and that's what it was."

###Asked if they had finalized their QB plan for this week or if they planned to use more of a feel approach to Jalen Whitlow/Patrick Towles' playing time, Phillips said some of that would be determined today: "Thursday is when we sit down and try to come up with a plan to play the backups and we'll go in here and talk about it today and figure out exactly when we want to play him," Phillips said. "In (Towles') series we had a 3rd-and-1 and we had been running the ball fairly well and we get a false start and now it's 3rd-and-6. You say putting (Towles) in changed the momentum but to me you get a 5-yard penalty, that changes the momentum. That's a mental mistake you can't have. Those type of penalties hurt your momentum."

###I asked Phillips if Whitlow and Towles understand enough of what they're seeing from defenses and the UK offense to take more shots or gambles on offense instead of playing it mostly close to the vest: "Coverages have been an issue and we've played against some pretty veteran secondaries that are doing a good job of disguising things," Phillips said. "Teams are saying just keep them in front of you also and not give up an big plays. That's the thing we're seeing so you're not getting people over the top. They're just keeping everything in front and not allowing us to get big plays."

###Asked about DL Alvin Davis' play against Mizzou, Phillips had this to say: "Alvin is a guy that's always given us great effort. He strains to the ball. He'll play a little more this week with Rumph being down right now so we're looking forward to watching him. He's a guy that knows what to do and always gives you good effort. He's not as big as you want inside but is a real strong guy and gives you good effort."