Texas Football: Longhorns injury update after Red River loss

Already banged up Texas football took some more damage on Saturday. The depth against KU will be thin, though many players are on the horizon of returning.

The loss for the Texas football program to the Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Rivalry Game continued the bout of injury issues for head coach Tom Herman this season.

The Texas Longhorns have been one of the more banged up teams in the FBS this season and their situation did not improve in Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma. Texas hosts Kanas next week then travels to Fort Worth to take on the Horned Frogs before hitting their second, and last, bye week of the season.

Here is a look at how the Horns look on the injury front:

New Injury News:

JR, S, Chris Brown: Brown suffered a fractured forearm against Oklahoma that coach Herman cited would keep him out for six weeks. Should everything progress well he should be back by Baylor (11/23) or Texas Tech (11/29). Brown is currently fourth on the team in tackles, fourth in passes defended, and third in tackles for loss.

SR, LB, Jeffrey McCulloch: McCulloch suffered a disloacted shoulder in Saturday’s Red River Rivalry, though the timetable on his return is unknown. At Monday’s press conference coach Herman said of his senior linebacker, “he will be out for the Kansas game, probably a couple of weeks, but I dont’ believe it will be season ending.” Expecting McCulloch back by the Iowa State game (11/16) is not too big of a stretch.

SR, WR, Collin Johnson: After sitting out three games due to a hamstring injury he suffered against LSU, Collin Johnson once again got banged up, though, this one should not sideline him for nearly as long. Johnson suffered a helmet-to-helmet hit that knocked him out of Saturday’s game. He is still being evaluated as he lifted weights on Monday, and has not yet been diagnosed with a concussion.

Soph, LB, Juwan Mitchell: Sophomore Juco-transfer Juwan Mitchell suffered a ‘significant’ elbow sprain against Oklahoma, though he is expected to play this weekend against Kansas. On Monday coach Herman told the media, “Juwan Mitchell has a pretty significant sprain to his elbow. We got an MRI on that, but as of now though, we don’t think that will limit him too severely as the week progresses.” That is good news for what is a thin linebacking unit.

Old Injury News:

FR, RB, Jordan Whittington: Jordan Whittington has officially been ruled out for the Kansas game as he still recovers from sports hernia surgery he had in early September. This has been a nagging injury since his high school days, and the original diagnoses on September 2nd believed he would be out roughly six weeks, which means he is getting close to coming back.

Soph, DB, Jalen Green: Jalen Green dislocated his shoulder in the second quarter of Texas’ September 23rd win over Oklahoma State. The original timetable given to coach Orlando’s number one cornerback was four weeks, though Tom Herman announced Green will be inactive this Saturday against Kansas. No further timetable was given.

Soph, S, Caden Sterns: Like Jalen Green, sophomore safety Caden Sterns will also once again be sidelined for the Kansas game. Sterns injured his knee in the Oklahoma State win and was given an initial return date four weeks from the injury. It seems as if he has progressed well and should be ready for the October 26th contest against TCU.