Lewis listed as questionable for Saturday’s matchup with Illinois

More than 55 percent of the IU football team’s offensive production was in a protective boot Tuesday.

IU coach Bill Lynch said junior quarterback Kellen Lewis sustained a high ankle sprain during last Saturday’s 45-9 loss to Iowa, the team’s fourth consecutive loss, and is listed as questionable for this weekend’s contest at Illinois.

Lynch said through the team’s spokesman, Jeff Keag, that no pictures of injured players, position or formation changes could be taken at the open practice, though he told reporters earlier Tuesday that if they “come out to practice today, he is going to be in a boot.”

“We went through halftime and got him re-taped and all of that,” Lynch said in his weekly address to the media, “and thought maybe it would loosen up and we could get him going in the second half, and it just never really did.”

A high ankle sprain occurs when a contortion is made causing ligaments that connect the foot, ankle and leg to stretch or tear, according to WebMD.com.

“Some athletes bounce back pretty quick – he really hasn’t been hurt much so we really haven’t been through this in terms of how quickly he can bounce back,” Lynch said. “We are certainly hopeful that a guy like that can bounce back, certainly quicker than our 300-pound guys.”

But he reiterated Lewis was wearing a boot, “so it is clear he has a way to go.”

So far this season Lewis has racked up 1,329 yards throwing, rushing and receiving combined.

Replacing Lewis, if he were to miss Saturday’s game, would be backup quarterback, sophomore Ben Chappell. Chappell would step in to a no-huddle offense originally implemented in the spring, while Lewis was suspended for an unspecified reason.

He has also played in five of the team’s six games, completing 28-of-54 passes with a touchdown and two interceptions.

The possible loss of Lewis might prove a drastic handicap for the team’s already struggling offense. For the past two weeks the Hoosiers have failed to break into the double digits in scoring.

Lewis is currently the team leader in rushing and has the ability to make plays on the ground.

Lynch said in his press conference before practice his team’s recent lack of execution is going to be a focus in this week’s workouts.

“The points of emphasis in practice this week is if we don’t do those things, we are going to address them immediately,” the second-year coach said. “So you may see whole units doing push-ups or up-downs as reminders that those are plays we have to make.”

And Lynch delivered on his warning.

During practice Tuesday, individuals and units were told to drop to the ground and throw themselves up again, in what junior wide receiver Andrew Means said was an effort to sharpen the players mentally, saying it gives the team the mind-set that if it messes up, it will be punished.

Just because Lewis was unable to participate in practice did not mean he didn’t partake in the punishments given to his team – he did his pushups while making sure to hold up the gray boot weighing down his right leg.

- IDS sports editor Zachary Osterman contributed to this report.