The curious case of Chip Trayanum continues in Lexington. After missing his first four games at Kentucky with a broken hand, Mark Stoops revealed the Ohio State transfer had been cleared to practice ahead of the team’s matchup at Ole Miss.

His head coach wouldn’t push his chips in on his availability in Oxford, but it was a sign his return was on the horizon nonetheless.

“We’ll see what type of strength he has in that hand — it was operated on, so we’ll see how he comes along and what he’s like here throughout the week,” Stoops said. “But he’s cleared.”

Then he popped back up on the first injury report of the week on Wednesday, listed as doubtful before being officially declared out on Thursday, going the wrong direction after early optimism. That optimism flipped to pretty significant pessimism to close out the week as whispers grew louder Trayanum’s season status could be in jeopardy.

Considering running back depth was seen as the offense’s biggest weakness entering the season, it’s certainly not what you want to hear about your projected starter and potential star out of the portal.

That was the perception going into the season. Little did we know, Demie Sumo-Karngbaye would hold down the fort as well as imaginable in Trayanum’s place while Jamarion Wilcox has emerged as a rising star in the backfield. Factor in Jason Patterson’s early flashes and Gavin Wimsatt’s playmaking as a rushing quarterback and that part of the game has been the least of Kentucky’s issues this year.

And don’t count out Trayanum’s return quite yet, says Vince Marrow. UK’s Associate Head Coach may not be a medical professional, but in his educated opinion, the senior running back is going to play at some point this season.

Having the bye week in the Kentucky’s back pocket certainly helps.

“You just got to be ready to go. I would think Chip — we got this bye week, so that’s another week letting it heal. I’m pretty sure we’re going to see him,” Marrow said on WLAP’s Sunday Morning Sports Talk.

No promises, but that’s his hope and expectation. Something else to keep in mind is Trayanum is still eligible to redshirt with four games of live action this season. That would allow him to pick and choose the most important games on the schedule and preserve another year of eligibility, if healthy.

Florida, Auburn, Tennessee and Louisville, perhaps?

Either way, Marrow is thrilled with Kentucky’s running back room both now and in the future.

“That’s above my pay grade and I’m not a doctor, but I’ll tell you what? I really like the backs we got, man,” he said. “Wilcox is a young star in the making, that dude’s got some juice. I really do think as we go through the year and we get Chip back (we’ll be good).”

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