LAWRENCE — Kansas football recently saw another potential key piece of its 2024 roster suffer an injury.

DeShawn Hanika, a redshirt senior tight end and Topeka native, will miss the rest of Jayhawks’ spring practices due to injury. Hanika transferred in from Iowa State, another Big 12 Conference program, during the offseason. And now there’ll be pressure on other teammates to step up and shoulder the responsibility that otherwise would have gone to him.

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“DeShawn will be out for the rest of the spring with a leg injury,” Leipold said Tuesday. “He had surgery, and that’s about as far as I’d like to go right now with that.”

Hanika is someone who drew positive reviews earlier during spring ball. Senior tight end Jared Casey once raved to reporters about Hanika’s speed and athleticism. Offensive coordinator/assistant head coach Jeff Grimes once described Hanika as a passionate, driven and coachable player who’s taking the time to learn Kansas’ system.

In terms of who’ll be relied upon, Casey and senior tight end Trevor Kardell are two individuals Leipold mentioned. That duo has played a lot of football for the Jayhawks in the past. And redshirt sophomore tight end Quinton Conley and redshirt senior tight end Tevita Ahoafi-Noa are two more Leipold mentioned could potentially receive more reps.

Kansas can also manage this issue on the field by looking to different personnel groupings. With a deep wide receivers room, the potential exists the Jayhawks could use them more than they would have otherwise. Time will tell how much Hanika’s injury plays a factor in what Leipold and company attempt to do this year.

“On the road to recovery now!” Hanika said Monday in a social media post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Thank you to everyone that has reached out and offered their love and support! Thank you to my teammates, coaches, and staff for having my back through this difficult time. I promise that I will do what I can to attack this rehab process!”

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas football TE DeShawn Hanika is out for spring after injury