Brent Venables provides injury update on Wanya Morris, other key starters

Wanya Morris was projected to be a starting tackle for the Oklahoma Sooners to begin this season, but injuries had other plans until this week when head coach Brent Venables announced that Morris should be ready to play against Nebraska this weekend.

Morris, a transfer to Norman from Tennessee following the 2020 season, is one of several starters that Venables had updates on ahead of the Sooners big-time rivalry game against a reeling Nebraska team. Getting the Morris — a former five star prospect according to the On3 Consensus rankings — the massive tackle, back on the field is a big help.

“We’re as healthy as we’ve been all fall camp, right now,” Venables said. “So that’s a good thing for us. Expect to get Wanya back here this week and hopeful Key Lawrence is back, as well as Robert Congel and hoping to see, maybe the first opportunity to see Nic Anderson, as long as he doesn’t have any setbacks during the week. So, comes at a good time — being healthy. And hopefully we get into a good rhythm, continue to build our team, developing an identity. We saw some great things from our team and how we responded to some tight situations.”

Venables was asked how Morris might adjust to real game reps after spending two weeks of the season sidelined. Venables doesn’t think he’ll be rusty, in part because of who he’s been working against in practice.

“He’s getting better work than he would if he was on the varsity,” Venables said. “He’s been on the scout team for the last three weeks. So he’s getting good-on-good work, against good defensive ends. You go against the scout team and you’re going to go against guys that aren’t quite at that level. And then when we go good-on-good, he’s been able to work in there some, as well. So he’s shown a good spirit about it, all things considered. And, so I’m not sure — if he’s rusty, I’m not sure if it’s because he got the jitters. Otherwise, there should be no excuse. He’s been working at a high pace against good players for the last several weeks.”