Sooners making good progress with injuries
ARLINGTON, Texas – Summer is a chance for guys to get healthy, and Sooners fans will be happy to know that a lot of guys are working their way toward being ready for preseason camp.
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables provided a few injury updates at Big 12 media days. For the most part, the news is as good as you could hope.
The biggest positive is with offensive tackle Walter Rouse. Recovering from a torn labrum, the transfer from Stanford was incredibly limited during the spring.
Rouse said he was OK with the plan of missing the spring even if it would be his only spring in Norman. The plan, though, sounds like it worked.
“Walter Rouse has been full-go since the end of spring,” said Venables on Thursday afternoon at AT&T Stadium.
That’s fantastic news for the offensive line. You can now start to pencil in those starters with Tyler Guyton and Walter Rouse, which is what OU fans want to hear. They need to start building that chemistry as fast as possible for Bill Bedenbaugh.
In continuing the offensive line theme, the news is good for the Sooners with Jacob Sexton. But it might still take some time.
The same can be said about running back Jovantae Barnes.
“Both of them are doing some running and cutting and that kind of stuff, so no setbacks,” Venables said. “We’re hoping that they’ll return to full speed here soon.”
Sexton tore his ACL at the Cheez-It Bowl against Florida State. The recovery appears to be going as well as you could ask for. But again, it’ll just take some time.
Barnes missed the second half of spring after a decision to get some work done. He had foot surgery for an issue that was bothering him even back during high school.
The injuries allowed true freshmen like offensive lineman Cayden Green and running backs Daylan Smothers and Kalib Hicks to get some incredibly valuable reps during spring practice.
