4 takeaways from Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, including a Quinn Ewers injury update

Steve Sarkisian's weekly press conference on Monday has come and gone. Here are takeaways from the Texas football coach's presser:

The good news: Quinn Ewers' status improves

When Sarkisian labeled starting quarterback Quinn Ewers as "week to week" ahead of the BYU game two weeks ago, it sounded like Ewers would miss a couple of games. And he has. But on Monday, the coach said Ewers threw last week in practice and threw again this morning in practice, and is now considered "day to day." That, in turn, sounds like he should be back out there probably either this week or next week.

"It's about how does he feel?" Sarkisian said, who added that "we'll navigate this week."

In Ewers' place, Maalik Murphy has gone 2-0 but also has had up-and-down flows within both games. He finished 19-of-37 for 248 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in the 33-30 win over Kansas State and had two turnovers the week before against BYU.

We'll find out more on Ewers' status on Thursday during Sarkisian's next media availability.

More: Our Texas report card from the 33-30 overtime win over Kansas State

Upon further review ...

On Mondays, Sarkisian opens his pressers with thoughts on the previous game after he's watched the game tape. Today, he said he said he was impressed with Texas' return to playing physical; the Longhorns rushed for 230 yards against the top run defense in the Big 12 and held the Wildcats to 33 yards. He loved what the defensive line did, called Adonai Mitchell's game (8-149-1) "fantastic" and highlighted Xavier Worthy's punt returns.

But Texas' three turnovers (two picks, one fumble), the blocked punt and the turnover on downs, however, need to be cleaned up. "The key for us is to minimize these self-inflicted wounds," he said.

Bohls: Just how good are these utterly mystifying, intriguingly compelling Longhorns?

Xavier Worthy vs. Adonai Mitchell, behind the numbers

Xavier Worthy's receiving numbers the past two weeks (4-27-0 against BYU , 5-48-0 against Kansas State) have fallen short of what we're accustomed to, while Adonai Mitchell's (3-59-2, 8-149-1) have trended up with Maalik Murphy running the offense, but Sarkisian didn't seem worried about that.c

"Worthy hasn't gotten a pass interference call against him the past two games, either," he said. Sarkisian reminded us that Worthy has impacted both those games in other ways, particularly on punt returns (he returned one 74 yards for a touchdown against BYU and had 33- and 19-yard returns last Saturday). And that's true. But perhaps no other single player will benefit the most from Ewers' return than Worthy; against Kansas State, several Murphy throws to Worthy were off the mark.

Sarkisian said that over the past month, Mitchell's biggest improvements have been his route running and effect as a blocker, which he said has keyed several of Texas' long runs by tying up a safety or cornerback on the edge. "All of that stems from a level of maturity," Sarkisian said. "I think he's really matured here in his practice and his preparation."

For the season, Worthy (49-620-4) and Mitchell (37-576-8) lead the Longhorns in receiving.

Texcetera

Non-Ewers injury updates: Sarkisian said everyone, including safety Jalen Catalon, left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. and right tackle Christian Jones, practiced on Monday. "(That) was really, really encouraging for me," he said. ... Jaylan Ford was named a semifinalist this morning for the Butkus Award, given each year to college football's top linebacker. Ford leads the team in tackles and tackles for loss and also has a sack, two interceptions, four QB hurries, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. ... The Big 12 named Bert Auburn the league's special teams player of the week for his four field goals, including the eventual game-winner in overtime, and Adonai Mitchell its league newcomer of the week. ... Texas' last three games are against 4-5 TCU, 5-4 Iowa State and 4-5 Texas Tech. ... The Iowa State game in Ames will kick off at 7 p.m., it was announced today.

Saturday's game at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth kicks off at 6:30 p.m. It's an ABC broadcast. The Longhorns are favored by 9½ points. The Horned Frogs took a 17-10 win last year in Austin. "I don't think the record is an indicative of how good they are," Sarkisian said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian's thoughts on TCU, Quinn Ewers