OU football media day takeaways: Brent Venables big on Da'Jon Terry, injury updates & more

NORMAN — OU coach Brent Venables and his coordinators — Jeff Lebby and Ted Roof — held their media day press conferences Tuesday at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

The Sooners — coming off a 6-7 season, their first losing record since 1998 — open preseason camp Thursday as they look toward their Sept. 2 opener against Arkansas State.

Here are some takeaways from the press conferences:

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OU football coach Brent Venables 'fell in love' with Da'Jon Terry

One of the latest additions to the Sooners’ roster was defensive lineman Da’Jon Terry, who transferred from Tennessee.

“I fell in love with him the first time I spoke with him and in every conversation, it was more of the same,” Sooners coach Brent Venables said of Terry.

Terry played in 25 games with the Volunteers, totaling 35 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks over the last two seasons after transferring from Kansas.

“We haven’t done a whole lot on the field with him but he got all the other stuff right from a transition standpoint,” Venables said. “To me, his focus and his toughness and his ambition will make that group better. I want that group to be the backbone of our football team. … We had some growing up to do at that position, in my opinion, when we got here.”

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Jacob Sexton closing in on return from injury

Brent Venables offered a lengthy injury update, most notably on offensive lineman Jacob Sexton, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament early in the Cheez-It Bowl loss to Florida State.

“He could probably be ready to play,” Venables said. “He’s ahead of his timeline and has looked terrific but we’re going to really work hard to try to protect him.”

Venables said he expected Sexton to be fully cleared in mid to late September.

Defensive lineman Jacob Lacey, a Notre Dame transfer, has suffered from a blood-clotting issue that has kept him out.

“He’s in a really good place,” Venables said. “Based on his progress and doctors and tests and things of that nature, I think you’ll see him back on one of the sooner target dates, that might be the latter part of September.”

Linebacker Shane Whitter has been fully cleared, as has offensive lineman Walter Rouse.

Robert Spears-Jennings, who underwest labrum repair surgery during spring practice, is expected to return to full speed in early September.

Venables said wide receiver J.J. Hester and tight ends Kaden Helms and Jason Llewellyn would each miss time during preseason camp while running back Emeka Megwa is close to returning.

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Jeff Lebby says OU has to keep Marcus Major healthy

The first name OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby brought up Tuesday wasn't Jovantae Barnes or Gavin Sawchuk, but instead redshirt senior Marcus Major.

Major has appeared in 28 games with the Sooners, rushing for 525 yards and seven touchdowns on 116 carries.

Last season, he rushed for 227 yards and four touchdowns on 56 carries over nine games.

"We've got to be able to keep him on the field," Lebby said. "He's gotta stay on the field."

Major has struggled with not only injuries but off-the-field issues that have kept him from playing much.

But Barnes and Sawchuk are expected to be the Sooners' top backs.

Barnes ran for 519 yards and five touchdowns on 116 carries as a freshman last season as Eric Gray's backup.

Sawchuk didn't play much of the season, appearing in just two games, but ran for 100 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown in the Cheez-It Bowl loss to Florida State.

"There's a ton of trust with those two guys," Lebby said of the pair. "Excited about where they're at but where they're going (is something to be thrilled about)."

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Brenen Thompson's speed, Jaquaize Pettaway's skill set stand out

The Sooners have two scholarship receivers who weren't around for spring football — Texas transfer Brenen Thompson and freshman Jaquaize Pettaway.

Lebby said Thompson's speed jumps out at him.

"He's got this great top-end speed," Lebby said. "He needs to have a great fall camp, just like everybody else, but he's a dynamic guy."

Pettaway, a Houston product, had 1,800 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns over his final three high school seasons.

"We're going to like Jaquaize," Lebby said. "He's going to have a great career here if he keeps stacking these days up like we're talking about."

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Ted Roof says OU defense 'work in progress'

OU's defense struggled last season, coming in at or near the bottom of the Big 12 in several key defensive categories.

Sooners defensive coordinator Ted Roof said Tuesday he felt better about his group this season compared to a year ago — particularly when it comes to competitive depth.

But there's still significant progress to be made.

"This is a work in progress," Roof said. "We've made strides. We haven't made enough. We've got to make more."

One of the primary focuses defensively, Roof said, was improving situationally.

"We've got to improve in every area but if you look at the things, those are the biggies — the red-zone defense and the third- and fourth-down defense," Roof said.

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Jaren Kanak making significant progress

In just the third game of his freshman season, linebacker Jaren Kanak was thrown into the fire, replacing DaShaun White after White's ejection for targeting against Nebraska.

But Kanak's playing time was limited the rest of the way. He played 13 games but primarily played special teams.

With White now departed to the NFL and David Ugwoegbu having transferred to Houston, Kanak figures to have a chance to carve out a regular role in the linebacker group.

"He's come a long way. ... He's made a lot of strides this summer," Roof said. "He's seeing things a lot better. So much of playing defense is vision and reacting and looking at the right things over and over and over again — just building up good habits. ... Going from being a wildcat quarterback to a Big 12 Mike (middle) linebacker, that's a big transition."

Kanak was originally committed to Venables at Clemson before flipping to the Sooners after Venables was hired in Norman.

"He's got such an amazing work ethic," Venables said of Kanak. "He's put the time in. He's always in the film room, always working in the weight room, elite recovery and nutrition."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football: Brent Venables talks about defense and more at media day