Brent Venables on R Mason Thomas: 'We'll continue to evaluate him'

NORMAN — The bye week comes at a great time for Oklahoma. The Sooners have several key players who are injured and hoping to recover in time for next week’s road clash at Alabama.

At the top of that list is R Mason Thomas.

The star defensive end left early in last week’s 33-27 win at Tennessee. Thomas injured his quad during his 71-yard scoop-and-score touchdown in the first quarter.

Per OU coach Brent Venables, it’s still too early to determine whether he’ll be available next weekend.

“We’ll just continue to evaluate him,” Venables said during Wednesday’s SEC Teleconference. “It’s still just a couple of days into it. I’ll let y’all know when I know a little more.”

Thomas has been one of the biggest components in OU’s stout defense this season. He’s started eight games while playing the sixth-most snaps (342), recording 23 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.

The Sooners are hoping for several players to return after the bye. OU linebacker Kobie McKinzie was available against Tennessee but didn’t play after suffering a groin injury against Ole Miss. It was a similar situation for cornerback Gentry Williams, who was available against Tennessee but has missed the last two games. OU tackles Derek Simmons and Logan Howland have missed significant time, too, though Ryan Fodje has played well over the last two weeks.

The Sooners are gonna need all hands on deck in Tuscaloosa next week.

“The bye week comes at a great time to just regroup, refocus on where we’re at as a football team, get some guys healthy, going into a really challenging finish to the regular season,” Venables said. “We’re in a good place from a health standpoint, but we’ll get a few guys back here going into next week.”

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