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Kendal Keys is back with the UNLV football team and showing no signs of a season-ending injury he suffered last summer.
Keys, who had knee surgery days before the Rebels’ 2016 season opener, returned this week as the Rebels started their 15-session spring practice. He appears to be back to his old self:
At one point of Friday’s practice, Keys made a nice catch and was greeted by teammates who ran onto the field to celebrate.
“He was hungry to get back on the field and play,” receivers coach Cedric Cormier said. “You could see it from day one that he was catching passes and finishing all the way down the field.”
Keys combined to catch 67 passes for 825 yards and eight touchdowns in his first two seasons at UNLV.
“I feel really good,” Keys said. “I’m excited to be back out here with my brothers. It’s just a crazy feeling. It feels like I was out for so long so just to get back into the rhythm feels good.”
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Keys said he put on 8 pounds during the offseason, making him even more of a matchup problem for opponents.
“I feel a lot better,” Keys said. “Mainly because when I was out I really focused on getting my body right. I learned the best lifts for me to improve my body and all of that so now that I’m back in football-mode it helps me out.”
Keys is still only a junior after being granted a medical redshirt for last season.
“The great thing about Kendal is he has had two years of being a big contributor, so his ability to pick it back up is like night and day,” UNLV coach Tony Sanchez. “He became more of a student of the game and he did a really good job of building his body up. He’s a big, strong kid and he’s really toned up right now.”
Keys wasn’t the only Rebel receiver back on the field after suffering an injury last year. Devonte Boyd — who led UNLV with 746 yards and four touchdowns last season before breaking his arm on Nov. 12 — was back on the field catching passes as well.
“First of all the guys that were injured are back, and we’re going to get even better going into the fall because we have a couple more recruits coming in,” Sanchez said. “The biggest thing is the numbers. For two years in a row we’ve had no more than six and seven scholarship receivers. Now we’re going into this year with 10 and that’s a big difference.”
Brandon Presley has also returned from his injury and Darren Woods Jr. is expected to be back soon. Redshirt freshman quarterback Armani Rogers, who took most of the repetitions with the first team offense, will benefit from having a full cast of receivers at his disposal.
“It’s huge having that,” Sanchez said. “He’s got a bunch of older guys that can help him out making plays for him. Last year that’s what was so frustrating when Kurt (Palendech) and Dalton (Sneed) were in there, was they didn’t have the benefit of those guys. If you just change that equation then it’s a whole different season.”
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