Kansas QB Michael Cummings to have surgery after freak injury in spring game

Quarterbacks wear red, non-contact jerseys for a reason. Coaches don’t want anyone tackling the guy during practices, either in the fall or spring.

So new Kansas coach David Beaty was cringing Saturday when he watched Michael Cummings, the Jayhawks starting quarterback, go down with a knee injury after being tackled with a walkon.

“Michael sustained a left knee injury that is going to require surgery,” Beaty said Monday in a Monday statement. “Following his surgery he will work diligently, alongside our medical staff, to get back to the field as quickly as possible.”

Beaty said Cummings’ contact with defensive back Michael Glatczak was unavoidable. Glatczak was being blocked and had his back turned to the play. He turned to make the tackle, not knowing it was the quarterback.

Beaty said of Glatczak: “He is a great kid, a great teammate and again it was just a very unfortunate accident.”

Cummings is from Killeen. He played in all 12 Jayhawks games last season, starting the final seven. He threw for 332 yards against TCU, the most by a Jayhawks quarterback in a game since 2009, in a near upset of the Horned Frogs.

Beaty offered no timetable on when Cummings might be cleared for play.