De'Niro Laster and Kobie Walker out for season with injuries

Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops announced on Thursday that linebackers Kobie Walker and De'Niro Laster will be out for the rest of the season.

Walker will need surgery on his shoulder while Laster will need surgery on his left knee. Walker had shoulder surgery prior to his freshman season at Kentucky.

"(Laster) has to have a procedure done on his left knee," Stoops said. "He should be fine for spring practice. The same with Kobie (Walker). Kobie Walker will be out with a shoulder injury, so those guys are done for the year."

Walker started two out of the three games he played in this season while Laster played in five games. Walker finishes the season with 10 tackles while Laster finishes with 14.

Stoops said earlier in the week that the bye week was important to get some other linebackers reps, so it's likely that he saw this news coming.

"I think it was really important to get the extra week," Stoops said. "We had to work with those guys. Jordan Bonner got a lot of reps, KG (Kengera Daniel). We needed the time. That worked out good for us, building some depth in that area."