Stanford QB Keller Chryst on track while recovering from knee injury

LOS ANGELES -- Stanford quarterback Keller Chryst is on track in his recovery from a knee injury and will participate in most drills when the Cardinal open preseason camp Monday.

"He's right on schedule, if not a little bit ahead," coach David Shaw told ESPN on Wednesday at Pac-12 media days. "We're going to be smart with him in training camp, very cautious with him, but he's already doing full-speed dropbacks, he's already throwing with the guys. We'll keep him out of team stuff for a while."

Stanford will open the season a week earlier than normal, Aug. 26 against Rice in Sydney, Australia.

Chryst sustained the injury in Stanford's win over North Carolina in the Sun Bowl. He passed for 905 yards, 10 touchdowns and two interceptions last season, and Stanford went 6-0 in games he started.

Senior Ryan Burns, who began last season as Stanford's starter, and redshirt freshman K.J. Costello shared time during spring practice and will continue to split snaps during camp. Shaw said he would have a better idea of Chryst's availability for the opener after the second week of training camp, once Chryst is cleared for full participation.

"My preference is always for them not to think of it as a competition, but for them to just go out there and play quarterback and let the coaches make the decisions we need to make," Shaw said. "Hopefully, Keller's ready to go that first game. If not, then we'll figure it out from there."