LEXINGTON — Kentucky running back Derrick Locke has a simple message for fans worried about him after he hurt his left arm in a moped accident Thursday.
“I am fine. Tell them not to worry,” Locke said in a Facebook answer.
Earlier, he had posted this message on his Facebook page: “Attention Big Blue Nation ... I am fine. I’s just a minor setback.”
Locke, a senior, is Kentucky’s leading returning rusher and is expected to be one of the key offensive players for the Wildcats in Joker Phillips’ first year as head coach. He was used sparingly in spring practice to help protect him from injury to keep him healthy for the season.
However, while riding a moped he reportedly lost his balance, and when he reached down to catch himself with his left hand he suffered a slight break in the ulna bone in his left forearm, according to Kentucky football spokesman Tony Neely. The injury is just above the wrist, and Neely says no surgery is planned “at this time” on Locke’s arm.
Instead, Locke will wear a splint for at least the next four weeks on his left arm to help the break heal.
Kentucky opens preseason practice in early August and starts the season Sept. 4 at Louisville in a game that will be nationally televised by ABC-TV since it will be the head coaching debut of both Phillips and Louisville’s Charlie Strong.
Locke led Kentucky in rushing with 195 carries for 907 yards and six touchdowns last year. He also caught 31 passes for 284 yards and two more touchdowns to rank among the Southeastern Conference’s best all-purpose players.
In addition, Locke is UK’s top kick returner. He returned one kickoff for a touchdown last season and had 639 return yards. His 152.5 all-purpose yards per game were second in the Southeastern Conference.
Locke is 10th on UK’s all-time rushing list with 1,731 yards and was a second-team all-SEC performer as an all-purpose player last year.
He even contemplated the idea of leaving Kentucky after his junior season for the NFL even though he was not ranked anywhere among the nation’s top 25 running backs by draft experts.
Locke made it clear when spring practice ended that he wanted to not only raise his draft status, but also show everyone he was a complete player.
“I expect to do big things. I don’t want to be known as an underrated player,” he said. “I want my respect and what I have to do to get that, I am going to get it. When they line up and play us, I want them to know they have to contain him and watch this guy because he can do this and that.
“I want them to know I can do it all and not just a little, fast back. That’s one of my main goals. It’s about respect. If you get respect, numbers will come. I just want to get my respect. That’s it.”
