WACO, Texas — Kyle Whittingham is typically not one to offer too much public transparency when it comes to injuries, but that stance has not held with Devon Dampier.

The Utes’ junior quarterback is playing hurt.

Dampier has been playing hurt since at least Oct. 18, when he appeared to injure his right ankle in the third quarter of a 24-21 loss at BYU. Even before that, it seemed clear Dampier was dealing with a lower-body issue as far back as a Sept. 20 home loss to Texas Tech.

Dampier’s limitations are evident enough that the 21st-year head coach isn’t trying to hide it.

If you’re wondering just how hurt Dampier is, Whittingham was in a talking mood late Saturday night following Utah’s 55-28 win over Baylor at McLane Stadium.

“Some weeks no, some weeks yes,” Whittingham said when asked if Dampier is doing any physical work over the course of the week leading up to Saturdays. “I’ll say this: Last Saturday, if we hadn’t had a bye, he would not have played (against Cincinnati). That’s without a doubt.

“He wasn’t ready.”

Off the bye, Dampier was just 16-of-31 passing, but finished with 291 total yards as part of a 45-14 drubbing of the Bearcats.

“That’s every week we do that,” Whittingham said. “That’s a plan we lay out, and that’ll be the same this week where he takes a lot of mental reps, especially early in the week, and then we start to integrate him as we get deeper into the week.”

For what it’s worth, Monday practice at Utah is generally just a walkthrough, while Tuesday is the week’s big physical practice, colloquially referred to as “Bloody Tuesday.” Wednesday’s practice is also typically in full pads, and things begin to taper off from there.

Dampier’s struggles were on display against the Bears as he finished just 6-of-13 for 80 yards and two touchdowns, but that sort of night can be mostly cast aside when your team rushes 43 times for 380 yards and five touchdowns.

Even still, on those 13 pass attempts, he looked skittish, he was inaccurate, and if this game had been in some doubt, you may have seen more of true freshman Byrd Ficklin, who rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns on just six carries.

Even still, Dampier is not appearing on the four-times-per-week Big 12 availability reports, which means, no matter what his week looks like, Whittingham and his offensive staff are effectively getting their quarterback to Saturday.

“We just need him on game day to say that he’s ready to go,” Whittingham said. “He knows this offense inside and out, as I’ve said many times. The reps for him, even if they’re just mental reps, or not moving and just taking the snap and going through his progressions, he’s a veteran. If he didn’t feel like he couldn’t help us win, he would let us know.

“Devon’s a little beat up, there’s no doubt about that; that’s no secret. He’s a competitor, he’s a warrior, he goes out, unless he absolutely can’t function at all, he’s going to want to play.”

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