How the Horns looked during an open practice window.
AUSTIN, Texas — A 10-minute window to view Friday’s practice by the Texas Longhorns afforded the media a glimpse into the team’s health as it prepares for the Peach Bowl matchup against the Arizona State Sun Devils on New Year’s Day in Atlanta for the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
It’s the 15th game of the season for the Longhorns, making the 2024 season the longest in program history, and few players are close to full health.
The observations from Friday’s practice were mostly positive, however, with redshirt senior center Jake Majors a full participant during the open period after sitting out the remainder of the win over Clemson after taking an illegal blindside block after an interception that left him down on the field for several minutes.
After the game, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said that Majors could have returned, but the medical staff held him out due to an abundance of caution.
The story was similar for sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner, who suffered a knee injury on the previous play against the Tigers and was held out for precautionary reasons. Wisner was also a full participant on Friday.
So, too, was junior wide receiver Isaiah Bond, who looked fast running routes after missing the first round of the playoff. Bond originally sustained an ankle injury in the Red River Showdown in October and re-aggravated it once again in the SEC Championship game.
Junior right tackle Cam Williams also sustained an injury on the same play that Wisner did, returning to the game for one play before leaving again. On Monday, Sarkisian said that the injury was not as serious as initially thought after Williams underwent a precautionary MRI on Saturday evening, but Williams was a limited participant in practice on Friday. He was dressed and with the other offensive linemen for drills, but didn’t go through them, instead taking a few reps by himself that looked like a struggle for the big offensive tackle, who was wearing extra protection on his injured knee.
According to a Friday report from Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods, Williams is expected to play against the Sun Devils, but it looked like he needs to keep improving from a physical standpoint for that to happen.