Iowa football news, notes: Kirk Ferentz’s Week 3 press conference, player interviews

IOWA CITY — Kirk Ferentz was quick to talk about “setbacks” in his weekly news conference.

“Obviously, everybody in Kinnick on Saturday witnessed us experiencing one of those,” Ferentz said at the beginning of his opening remarks. “I know a lot of people are disappointed, certainly our fans. … Needless to say, anytime you experience a setback, it's painful.”

Ferentz also noted, though, that setbacks “are part of every season.”

“It's not always in the form of a loss, but always you have challenges,” Ferentz said. “And that's one of the axioms of going into a season — just understanding there's going to be things that happen that aren't planned.”

Here are some other notes from Tuesday’s Iowa football media availability:

Update on Iowa’s strong safety position

Koen Entringer took over for Xavier Nwankpa at strong safety in Saturday’s 20-19 loss after Iowa gave up a 75-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Entringer said Tuesday he has not been practicing with the first team this week, as Nwankpa is back to working with the starters.

“Xavier is a good player, and so is Koen,” Ferentz said. “They're both good young players. I guess one is a little younger than the other. The main difference is Koen has missed a lot of time coming off the knee surgery. He recovered in record speed.”

Leshon Williams’ smaller role through two games

Leshon Williams’ limited workload through the first two games is a matter of having “only so many carries” to split between a couple different running backs.

“We're rotating three guys for the most part right now,” Ferentz said.

Through the first two games, Kaleb Johnson has a team-high 36 carries, Kamari Moulton has 26 and Williams has seven. He missed part of fall camp with an injury, but Ferentz thinks Williams is healthy.

“There was a run he made, not this week but a week ago in practice where he got his foot down and, boy, he made a really nice cut,” Ferentz said. “It looked like he's back to where he should be.”

Injury update

Iowa wide receiver Seth Anderson and linebacker Jayden Montgomery are expected to miss Saturday’s nonconference finale against Troy.

“Got a couple guys that are limited in practice right now,” Ferentz added. “Hopefully they'll be ready by game time.”

Anderson has been listed as out on the Big Ten availability reports for Iowa’s first two games of the season. Montgomery was questionable against Illinois State and out against Iowa State.

Video: How Koen Entringer mentally prepared for more playing time

Video: Kaleb Johnson explains how improved vision is key to success

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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