🌎 Resumen en español · traducción automática
Tres jugadores de fútbol americano de la Universidad de Kentucky fueron nombrados en la lista de vigilancia del Premio al Jugador del Regreso 2026, anunciado por los College Sports Communicators en asociación con Associated Press y la Fiesta Sports Foundation. Los tres Wildcats seleccionados son el corredor senior CJ Baxter Jr., el defensive back senior Aaron Gates y el linebacker exterior senior Sam Greene, quienes se están recuperando de lesiones graves como desgarros de ACL, lesiones de hombro y otras afecciones que los mantuvieron fuera de acción durante la temporada 2025.
Traducción y resumen generados por IA a partir del artículo en inglés. Puede contener errores; consulte el texto original.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Three University of Kentucky football players have been named to the 2026 Comeback Player of the Year Award watch list, as announced Thursday by the College Sports Communicators in association with the Associated Press and the Fiesta Sports Foundation.
Senior running back CJ Baxter Jr., senior defensive back Aaron Gates and senior outside linebacker Sam Greene make up the trio of Wildcats being considered for the award, which recognizes college football student-athletes for overcoming injury, illness or other circumstances. The award has been presented annually since 2018, with three honorees selected each season at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.
Baxter, a 6-foot-1, 230-pound running back from Boynton Beach, Florida, transferred to Kentucky from Texas in January. The five-star prospect suffered a major right-knee injury in August 2024 during training camp, tearing his ACL, LCL and PCL, which sidelined him for the entire 2024 season. After working his way back to the field, Baxter suffered a hamstring injury on the first play of the game against UTEP on September 13, 2025, limiting him to eight games and 196 yards rushing for the season. For his career, he has rushed for 855 yards and five touchdowns while averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
Gates, a transfer from Florida, is a 6-foot, 199-pound defensive back from Newnan, Georgia, who will take on the “star” position for Kentucky this season. The multidimensional player endured a season-ending shoulder injury on September 20, 2025, during Florida’s game against Miami, suffering a torn labrum that required surgery just 10 days later. Prior to the injury, he appeared in four games and recorded seven tackles. Gates also suffered a torn ACL on November 23, 2024, during Florida’s upset win over then-No. 9 Ole Miss.
Greene, a 6-foot-2, 251-pound outside linebacker in his second season with Kentucky, suffered a torn ACL during the Wildcats’ 38-7 win over Florida on November 8, 2025. Prior to the injury, the Washington, D.C., native had recorded 25 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack. Pro Football Focus College ranks Greene as the Southeastern Conference’s ninth-best edge rusher entering 2026.
Kentucky previously has had two Comeback Player of the Year winners: J.J. Weaver in 2021 and Kenneth Horsey in 2020. The Wildcats will open the 2026 season against Youngstown State on September 5 at 1 p.m. ET in Kroger Field under new head coach Will Stein.
Sources
- UK Athletics
- College Sports Communicators and the Comeback Player of the Year Award
- UK Football 2026 Schedule
This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from UK Athletics, enriched with 2 web searches. The original source is available at https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/08/20/a-trio-of-cats-on-2026-comeback-player-of-the-year-watch-list/.
