Texas Football: Keaontay Ingram, Kirk Johnson both injured in fall camp

The health for Texas football in fall camp wasn’t able to completely hold up through the first scrimmage over the weekend.

This was not the start, health-wise, that was anticipated for the Texas football program in fall camp. In the first scrimmage of fall camp for Texas football, the injuries did start to pile up a bit. The running back room was seemingly hit the hardest for head Texas football coach Tom Herman through the first full fall ball scrimmage.

When Herman addressed the media for the Texas Longhorns football program on Aug. 11, he did provide an update to injuries for both sophomore running back Keaontay Ingram and redshirt senior Kirk Johnson. Ingram tweaked his knee in the scrimmage, which isn’t a great sign, but doesn’t look too serious yet. But yet another fall camp injury for Johnson is devastating.

Other reports addressed the injury for Johnson, which is apparently a severe sternoclavicular joint sprain. That could reportedly hold him out for up to six weeks of action. That would mean him missing game action this fall carrying all the way into the beginning of Big 12 play.

All the setbacks that Johnson experienced throughout his career with the Longhorns has to make the fans feel for him. The way he showed out in spring camp and in the Orange-White Game back in April started to grow the excitement for what was to come for him in his final year on campus.

Johnson hasn’t seen all that much game action since his true freshman season with the Longhorns back in 2015. The hope was for him to get into the mix amid the three or four most productive running backs this coming season.

However, the injuries to Ingram and Johnson don’t spell anything positive for this Texas running back room. Quite the opposite, the lack of depth in the running back room was already a concern. Texas cannot afford to be without both Johnson and Ingram through the start of the coming regular season.

Ingram had knee problems during his true freshman season in 2018 and injury concerns are nothing new for Johnson. As long as Herman is confident that both will get back in the mix at or near full health around the start of Big 12 play, this should all be fine. Or at least not a deal breaker for the Longhorns having a successful ground game in 2019.

Other concerning injury news rose up this weekend after the first fall camp scrimmage with defensive backs Caden Sterns and DeMarvion Overshown undergoing various injury problems. Sterns rolled his ankle and should be fine in the long-term, but there is nothing conclusive there yet.

Meanwhile, Overshown has a mid-foot sprain and is limited to special teams activities thus far in fall camp. But Overshown could be back to full action in practice padded up by the end of the week. For a player trying to battle his way up the depth chart like Overshown, getting back in full practice action is pivotal.