LEXINGTON, Ky. – Coach Rich Brooks is giving his players a day off on Monday after 13 consecutive days of practice. But Brooks’ opinion of the team’s first scrimmage on Saturday didn’t change after watching the film, as Kentucky’s defense obviously carried the day.

“It was pretty much what I saw yesterday,” said Brooks after the team’s workout Sunday afternoon.  “We were very fast on defense, looked like we were confident and knew what we were doing.  On offense we did not move the same way.  The one guy I mentioned yesterday that we really had a hard time blocking was (defensive tackle) Corey Peters.  He’s improved a great deal.

“The quarterbacks weren’t very sharp, but they didn’t have a lot of help.  We have to clean up some things around them and then get them freshened up a little bit and start preparation (for the season opener vs. Louisville) starting around Wednesday.”

Brooks indicated that the hoped-for improvement in the offensive line has been slowed by some injuries, along with the performance of the UK defensive line.

“We’re missing a few of the pieces (in the offensive line) but we’re not competing as well as I’d like to compete,” Brooks said.  “The other side of that is we’re doing really well on the defensive front.  Those guys are bringing it, and bringing it on a daily basis.

“That’s the hard part to judge – is our offense as bad as it looked yesterday or is our defense as good as it looked yesterday?” Brooks continued.  “I suspect from having done this for many years that the answer is somewhere in-between.  But I did feel the defense would be the best we’ve had (during Brooks’ six seasons) and so far I’ve seen nothing that I would back away from that statement.”

Brooks noted that redshirt freshman offensive guard Stuart Hines sustained an ankle injury during the scrimmage and will be out a few days.  The coach also said that quarterback Mike Hartline was rested Sunday to help recover from a weary arm and that offensive tackle James Alexander might return to practice in the next day or two.