Texas Football: Maalik Murphy returns to practice as backup QB in drills

Following the conclusion of the week of spring break, head coach Steve Sarkisian and Texas football got back to work on the practice field on March 21. Texas reported back for spring camp to begin the week (specifically on March 20).

And we got to see Sark and the Longhorns get back to work in practice on the morning of March 21 for the first time since they got the full pads on for drills on March 10.

There were some big updates that we have to sort through following the first spring practice of the week. One of the biggest nuggets came courtesy of the Texas quarterback room, which now looks to have redshirt freshman Maalik Murphy back in the mix in drills as of March 21.

Multiple reports and sightings on social media indicate that Murphy is back to participating in the quarterback rotation in spring drills this week.

Texas football QB Maalik Murphy returns to practice getting second-team reps this week

We even got to see a few clips emerge on social media of Murphy throwing the ball around as Texas got to work to start practice this week at Campbell-Williams Field at DKR.

CJ Vogel of TFB Texas also mentioned in a tweet on the morning of March 21 that Texas is “back to full strength at the QB position” since Murphy return to full throwing drills “for the first time this spring”.

A practice report from Joe Cook of Inside Texas on March 21 (paid content) indicates that Murphy was the second QB in the rotation at practice. He was behind redshirt sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers and ahead of true freshman Arch Manning.

Another nugget worth mentioning is that Murphy reportedly “looked to have a complete throwing motion” during the media availability window at practice.

It’s good to hear about the progress that Murphy has made in the last couple of weeks. He didn’t participate in throwing drills during the first week of spring practice, which went from March 6 to March 10. Murphy was limited due to a lower-body injury. Various ailments have limited Murphy at different points since he first arrived on campus in January 2022.

In Murphy’s absence in QB drills last week, Arch got the second-team practice reps. That led many around the national media landscape to cause a stir that the Longhorns could have a QB competition on their hands in camp. The media also stirred the pot due to Sark mentioning in a press conference that everyone has to earn their spot on the depth chart, including Quinn and Arch.

What is known to most Texas fans is that Sark uses that type of rhetoric for essentially every single player on the roster year in and year out.

We will continue to monitor for other updates regarding the injury status of top Longhorns players as the team returns to practice this week.

Texas will take part in two more practices this week as the annual Orange-White Game at DKR is approaching in a few weeks (April 15).