Iowa notes: Doctors clear Jewell for return

IOWA CITY - Iowa linebacker Josey Jewell was cleared by doctors and will return to practice this week, Coach Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday.

Jewell, a red-shirt freshman from Decorah, was listed as a co-starter at weakside linebacker entering the opener against Northern Iowa. Jewell suffered a hand injury on Aug. 27 and has missed the first two games.

Ferentz said Jewell's role is undetermined against Iowa State on Saturday.

'He was having a good camp,” Ferentz said. 'He had a good spring last year, but he's still a young guy. He hasn't played a snap in major college football, so we'll see what he looks like this week in practice. He's been cleared. That doesn't mean he'll be able to play effectively.”

Jewell (6-foot-2, 225 pounds) entered fall camp as the backup at outside linebacker. He quickly became one of the unit's better players throughout training camp.

'He's really physical,” Iowa starting middle linebacker Quinton Alston said. 'He's coming downhill, he's hitting fullbacks, he's knocking helmets off most of the time during practice and knocking mouthpieces out, too. I'm anxious to see him back on the field after his injury and we'll see how it goes this week.”

Ferentz said Jewell should help immediately at special teams.

'We're not the deepest group right now at linebacker, so hopefully he'll get involved in that,” Ferentz said. 'It's been kind of an experimental thing for us all the way through, and we'll keep looking at guys. But we'll have to see how he looks in practice.”

KICKING WOES

Iowa's kicking remains in a rut with junior Marshall Koehn and freshman Mick Ellis combining to miss four of their six field-goal attempts. All of the kicks were 40 yards or closer.

Both kickers are listed as co-starters this week.

'We'll figure that out this week,” Ferentz said. 'Right now we'll see what practice looks like and make a decision sometime at the end of the week.”

The punting game also has been inconsistent with Iowa ranking 115th nationally at 36.6 yards per boot. Junior Dillon Kidd, who beat out incumbent and fellow junior Connor Kornbrath, has nine punts with his longest going 48 yards.

'I think he's doing OK,” Ferentz said. 'We've seen him do better, and I think that will come true on the same topic of guys that haven't played. But he's competing with a guy that has played and done well and practiced well, too. Everybody's got to keep pushing and keep working here if we're going to improve.”

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

Wide receiver Damond Powell thought he had his fourth touchdown reception at Iowa when he hauled in a 38-yard strike from C.J. Beathard on Saturday against Ball State. Powell caught the ball over his left shoulder in the end zone. Initially it was ruled a touchdown, but officials overturned the play after a replay.

'I think I had a touchdown,” he said. 'I caught the ball. I didn't bobble it.”

Powell, a senior, has three receptions for 42 yards and one touchdown this season.

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