Texas Football: 5 key injured Longhorns players heading into Texas Tech

Derek Williams Jr., S

Another safety who suffered an injury in the win over Iowa State in Week 12 was true freshman Derek Williams Jr. Williams suffered an upper-body injury (likely a shoulder stinger) on a hit in the second quarter on the ball carrier in pass coverage.

After Williams suffered the upper-body injury in the second quarter against Iowa State, he was taken to the sideline for further evaluation. But it wasn’t long before Williams had returned to live-game action on defense for Texas. Williams returned to play over a dozen defensive snaps in the second half at safety.

By the start of the fourth quarter, Texas was utilizing a three-man rotation at safety with Thompson, Taaffe, and Williams. This was after Catalon left the game due to an upper-body injury.

There is good news that Williams reportedly avoided a separated shoulder, which makes sense given that he was able to return to live-game action in the game last weekend. It sounds like Williams should be good to go for the Longhorns heading into the regular season finale on Nov. 24 against Texas Tech.

Given that Texas could be short Catalon in the regular season finale, and that something was wrong with Crawford late in the game against Iowa State, Williams being healthy for the Texas Tech game will be crucial.