Kentucky Football: Max Smith Has A Separated Shoulder

The news is not great on the Maxwell Smith front. Alan Cutler is reporting that Max has a separated throwing shoulder:

"No, it doesn't need to have surgery," says Joker. "We'll take a look at it after the season and figure it out. He could have surgery, but he doesn't need to have surgery."

You work so hard to get to this point, then an AC joint in your shoulder messes up your plans. Max wasn't happy with the way he threw the ball in practice on Monday, because he wasn't the same old Max.

"I felt like I threw it pretty well," says Max. "It was painful. Maybe I wasn't able to snap on some balls like I wanted to. I made every throw but, a little bit inaccurate, but I'll be alright."

Folks, when Smith was 100%, I felt like we had a chance to outscore opponents. It looks to me like he isn't going to be back to that level for the rest of the year, although Randy Sanders suggested otherwise in an earlier report.

What does this mean for the Wildcats? Well, in the first place, it means that we have to wonder every game about Kentucky's offense, and likely all it will take is one bad sack on that shoulder to send Smith to the surgeon's table, and this being the SEC, that's going to be hard to avoid.

Also, if the throw is affecting his accuracy, it could have an unintended desirable effect of keeping most of the throws short. Every time we have looked to go deep this year, it has been either ineffective or gotten us in trouble. If we can keep hitting the short and intermediate routes, it not only gives Smith a chance to get rid of the ball, but helps him be more accurate.

Oh, and just in case that isn't enough to worry about, Jalen Whitlow's reps today were apparently pretty ugly. That doesn't mean all that much, he will get better. But he's not ready to be the starter.