3 key injured Texas football players that could return vs. WVU

Xavier Worthy, WR

The most impactful injury that the Longhorns suffered last weekend in the overtime loss to Texas Tech was unfortunately dealt to star sophomore wide receiver Xavier Worthy. In the first quarter against the Red Raiders last weekend, Worthy came up hobbling.

Worthy tried to play through the injury for a few more snaps in the first half. But by the time the second half arrived, there wasn’t a Worthy sighting on the field.

The good news here is that Worthy’s x-rays came back negative, which Sark mentioned in his postgame press conference on Sep. 24. And it sounds like there is continued optimism that Worthy could play for the Longhorns against West Virginia.

According to a report from Chip Brown of Horns247 on Sep. 28 (paid content), Worthy is getting worked back into practice with some limited reps early this week. But it sounds like Worthy continues to get more and more comfortable in practice as the week progresses.

Texas needs Worthy back this weekend to really make life difficult on the West Virginia defense. He just stretches the field and puts pressure on opposing defenses in ways that other talented Texas skill players can’t.

You could see the impact that the absence of Worthy had on the spacing of the Texas offense last weekend. Texas Tech was able to commit an extra safety asset to stop the run and limited what redshirt junior wide receiver Jordan Whittington was able to do in the passing game.

Getting Worthy back this weekend will dramatically increase Texas’ chances of beating the Mountaineers if he’s healthy enough to return from that lower-body injury from last weekend.