LAWRENCE — Lance Leipold said Tuesday that Kansas football is taking the initiative to practice on grass as much as possible during fall camp, as it prepares for the upcoming season.

Leipold, KU’s head coach, and the Jayhawks are getting ready to play their 2024 home games away from Lawrence. David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is undergoing a renovation, so they will be splitting games between Children’s Mercy Park (Kansas City, Kansas) and Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City, Missouri). Weather could force them to practice inside at times, and that ended up happening with the second practice Wednesday, but they’re doing what they can.

“We had a chance to go out there a few times in the spring,” Leipold explained Tuesday. “We did the camps. And I asked the players, would they want to go there as much as they could? And they said, ‘Yes.’ So, I think all our legs and knees and joints and all that stuff feel better, and I’m not getting any younger so I was kind of for it.”

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Here are a few more takeaways from what Leipold had to say as fall camp got going:

Lance Leipold highlights field goal competition

Seth Keller served as Kansas’ lead kicker for field goals last year, not to mention extra points, and finished 11-for-14 on field goals and 47-for-49 on extra points. But this year the Jayhawks will need someone to step up in his place. And according to Leipold, there are a few names to know.

One is redshirt sophomore kicker Charlie Weinrich, who Leipold said had a really good spring after not kicking in a game in 2023. Another is senior kicker Tabor Allen, although Leipold noted they like having him focus on kickoffs as he has in the past. The third is redshirt junior kicker Owen Piepergerdes, who missed his lone field goal attempt in 2023 but did connect on all six of his extra points.

“It’s going to be competitive,” Leipold said. “We chart everything and we have the data and as we get halfway through camp, I’m sure it’s going to kind of show itself where we’re going to have to start making at least some early decisions like we do at some other positions.”

This is why Lance Leipold believes people are praising Caleb Taylor

Senior defensive tackle Caleb Taylor is someone who’s been earning praise as a potential breakout player this year, and for Leipold there are some clear reasons why. For one, there’s the maturity Taylor possesses. And there’s also an enhanced level of commitment Taylor is showcasing.

Leipold highlighted how back in 2021, Taylor — who started four of his 12 appearances that year — struggled putting on and keeping weight. According to Leipold, there was a time Taylor might have been under 260 pounds. Now, Taylor is listed at 315 pounds and Leipold said Taylor is holding that weight.

Leipold, who acknowledged there are ways he could have better helped younger players like Taylor in the past, said Taylor has become a respected leader on the team and he’s pulling for Taylor. Taylor is coming off of a season in which he appeared in 13 games and collected six tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks. Time will tell how much Taylor produces in 2024.

Lance Leipold says Tony Terry is no longer on KU’s team

Tony Terry signed with Kansas football as a part of the Jayhawks’ 2023 recruiting class, and joined as a 247Sports Composite three-star defensive lineman. However, according to Leipold, he’s not on the team anymore. Terry did not appear in a game last season when KU went on to win the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.

“He’s no longer in the program,” Leipold said.

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 values chance to practice on grass during fall camp