Following a 24-17 win over Southern Miss on Saturday, Kentucky Wildcats freshman Lynn Bowden took to Twitter on a playing time issue.
Bowden was clearly frustrated as he sent out tweets being critical of his coaches for the lack of playing time he received (two snaps), though that specific tweet was eventually taken down.
However, Bowden eventually continued to send out more tweets:
Prized UK freshman Lynn Bowden's timeline since he played sparingly in the opener has been interesting. pic.twitter.com/bVJvFIMyRp
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_SEC) September 3, 2017
When head coach Mark Stoops held his press conference Monday, he was immediately asked about the situation.
"We'll continue to manage our players. That's what they pay me to do and we'll be fine. Lynn's a good kid, works hard," said Stoops. "I've been in a lot of places with some very, very, very talented young men and the competitive nature comes out in kids sometimes, and we'll be fine.”
In his two snaps Saturday, Bowden didn't record a target. It's rare for a true freshman to see heavy workload in the first game of the season, so the lack of playing time wasn't a shock to me as much as it appeared to be to Bowden.
However, as he gains experience to mesh with his talent, Bowden will surely see more of the field as the season progresses. Regardless, Stoops likes his team’s mindset, and a small issue like this won’t affect it.
“There’s no issue at all,” Stoops added. “That’s the good thing about our football team now and where we’re at. We can manage things like that very easily.”