Kentucky will head into Saturday’s SEC road opener at No. 9 Texas A&M without corner Grant Grayton.
Grayton opened the week listed as questionable on Wednesday’s first availability report, but Kentucky downgraded him to out on Thursday. He joins Andre Clarke Jr., Lincoln Watkins and Jay Clark as Cats who will not be available.
Clark and Clarke were also out for Week 2 against Alabama. Jamarrion Harkless was the only other player listed, staying questionable.
The loss matters because Grayton has already played a meaningful role for Kentucky this season. The sophomore corner returner saw action as a true freshman in Brad White’s defense and has been involved early again this fall, including 47 snaps against Youngstown State, which trailed only Isaiah McMillian, and 21 against Alabama.
His workload dipped against the Crimson Tide after Hasaan Sykes returned from injury, and Aaron Gates took on a larger role as well, finishing second in snaps behind Sykes and ahead of McMillian. Grayton was fourth.
He had been especially important for Kentucky in the opening week, when both Sykes and starting corner Terhyon Nichols were out. Nichols then missed game two as well after what Will Stein described as a "game-time-decision."
"He was available all week. He practiced all week," Stein said Tuesday. "Then really late in the process, Friday night, Saturday morning, it was a little bit like, 'He can go, but…' So, we felt like it was best to not put him out there in those situations.
"We made more or less a game-time-decision," Stein added on his radio show, "which was unfortunate for him because I was really looking forward to seeing him out there."
There is better news on Nichols as Kentucky prepares for its trip to College Station. Stein said Tuesday that Nichols took every rep in practice and that he expects him to play Saturday.
"He went every single rep today," Stein said Tuesday. "I know that, (I) watched it with my own eyes. (He) was running around fast and had a hop in his step, so my expectation is that he's going to play this Saturday."
A day later, Stein kept driving home the same message, saying Nichols practiced every rep during the week and that his expectation remains for the highly-praised corner to make his season debut against the Aggies.
Grayton, meanwhile, spoke with the media on Wednesday and gave no hint that he might land on the availability report later that night. He sounded ready for the challenge and said the road atmosphere is exactly the kind of setting he has always wanted.
"I love going on the road," Grayton said. "Seeing the new environments and getting to play in front of a crowd of 100,000 maybe, that's crazy.
That's something I always dreamed of. I love playing in front of huge crowds."
Kentucky and Texas A&M are set to kick off Saturday, Sept. 19, at Kyle Field. The game starts at 3:30 p.m.
ET and will air on ESPN. Texas A&M is favored by 16.5 points.
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