3 key Texas football players returning from injury this week

The first game week of the year is upon us with the Texas football program readying up to take on the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks out of the Sun Belt at home on Sep. 3. Texas and second-year head coach Steve Sarkisian will get to take on ULM under the lights at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium this weekend, with the kickoff time for this game set at 7 p.m. CT.

One looming storyline that fans are watching for the Longhorns this week will be the status of various key players that suffered injuries throughout fall camp. Sark and the Longhorns had a tough run in the way of injury issues in the last few weeks in fall camp, including two detrimental season-ending ACL tears to wide receiver Isaiah Neyor and interior offensive lineman Junior Angilau.

Moreover, there are a few other injuries that occurred throughout fall camp that aren’t as serious as that of Neyor and Angilau. Texas is hoping to have the rest of those players back at full health for the regular season opener this weekend.

Texas football players that should be recovered for Week 1 of the regular season

Here’s a look at three key Longhorns players that should be able to return at or near full health from various injury issues coming out of fall camp.

Roschon Johnson, RB

According to a report from Justin Wells of Inside Texas on Aug. 29 (paid content), Texas is looking to get senior running back Roschon Johnson back from an ankle sprain he suffered in fall camp in practice this week. That looks to include full-contact drills leading up to the opener this weekend.

It was originally anticipated that Johnson could miss the first couple of weeks of the regular season at least. But that was assuming he had suffered a high-ankle sprain from some of the initial reports and practice notes that came out following Texas’ first scrimmage of fall camp a few weeks ago.

If Johnson wound up suffering a regular ankle sprain instead of a high ankle sprain, that would be a different story. High ankle sprains can take a while to recover and can bring about issues later on down the line.

In the case that Johnson did suffer a regular ankle sprain, it makes sense that he could be ready to go for the start of Week 1.

Getting Johnson back at full health will be more imperative for the last two games of the non-conference slate than it will for the opener this weekend. He will be needed both in terms of the veteran presence he brings to the locker room and his impact on the field when Texas faces the No. 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide and defending Conference-USA Champion UTSA Roadrunners in Weeks 2 and 3.