Plenty of injured Longhorns on the mend as No. 9 Texas enters its bye week
The Texas Longhorns are on a bye this week, but the team's trainers won't get much time off.
At his weekly press conference Monday, head coach Steve Sarkisian had a long list of injuries to go over. He also reviewed this past weekend's 34-30 loss to Oklahoma, discussed whether he regretted any of his coaching decisions from the fourth quarter of that game and went over the Longhorns' schedule for the upcoming week.
But about those injuries ...
Starting center Jake Majors left the game with an apparent leg injury and cornerback Ryan Watts didn't play after he was injured the week before. Sarkisian said neither player will practice this week. He hopes to have a better answer about their availability for the Oct. 21 Houston game by next Monday.
Sarkisian gave safety Jalen Catalon a "day-to-day" designation. Catalon was injured while trying to assist on a first-quarter tackle.
Tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders wasn't injured at the Cotton Bowl, but he was limited. He exited the Kansas game Sept. 30 with an injured ankle and was cleared to play a few days before UT met the Sooners. Rotating in and out of the game, Sanders finished with one 13-yard reception. He received a hard hit from former Denton Ryan teammate Billy Bowman on a pass near the end zone, and that deflected ball was intercepted.
"Ja'Tavion really wasn't on a pitch count, like X number of plays. We were just trying to monitor him on how he was moving," Sarkisian said. "I think early on in the game, it was getting adjusted to not being 100% and what did that feel like for him, and then I felt like he kind of got himself warmed up. Then he had a stretch in there that wasn't great again, and so we tried to lean back into Gunnar Helm a little bit more and then try to just have him available for us in the fourth quarter.
"There were some plays that I'm glad he was out there and some other plays that I'm sure were frustrating for him that he wasn't able to execute the way he's normally able to execute."
With Sanders limited, Helm stepped up, and one of his two fourth-down catches resulted in the first touchdown of his three-year college career.
Sarkisian said that "the depth has been really good for us" at safety, and his rotation includes a mix of veterans such as Catalon, Jerrin Thompson, Michael Taaffe and Kitan Crawford as well as Derek Williams, a freshman whose "future's so bright."
The absence of Majors presented Texas with a different problem. Had this injury occurred in the season opener, Texas would have slid guard Cole Hutson over to replace him. But Hutson hasn't been available since he injured his knee against Wyoming on Sept. 16.
Texas instead turned to redshirt freshman Connor Robertson. Sarkisian said Robertson played 74 snaps. The Westlake product drew a false start penalty and was guilty on an ineligible man downfield call that cost UT a 14-yard reception. Fans also were left to wonder if things would have been different during a fourth-quarter sequence that featured three failed runs at the goal line had Majors been healthy. Sarkisian, though, gave a mostly positive review about Robertson.
"Sure there's plays he'd love to maybe do a little bit better," Sarkisian said. "In that setting, especially in some of those times when we were backed up in their end with the crowd noise, his snaps were good. I thought he communicated relatively well at the line of scrimmage."
To open its bye week, Texas opted for meetings and the players took part in a "pretty extensive lift and stretch and stride to kind of get their bodies back." The Longhorns will practice for the next three days. Over those practices, Sarkisian said an emphasis will be placed on getting reps for the team's backups and working on the starters' sense of focus. The coaches will use the weekend to recruit.
When asked after the Oklahoma game if the bye week was coming at the right time, running back Jonathon Brooks said, "I guess so. Just kind of rebuild our body, get our bodies back. Just refocus on what the mission is and just come back and play even harder."
When the Longhorns return to practice next Monday, the countdown to that weekend's trip to Houston will be underway. Under Sarkisian, Texas is 1-1 after byes. The Longhorns beat Kansas State after last year's break but followed up their 2020 bye with a loss at Baylor.
Now No. 9 in the Associated Press poll, Texas (5-1, 2-1) will look to bounce back from its first loss against a Houston team that's 2-3 this season. The Cougars, who have been beaten by TCU and Texas Tech in conference play, will host West Virginia (4-1, 2-0) on Thursday.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Steve Sarkisian discusses injuries for Texas football players
