Deion Burks injury update: Pete Thamel reveals Oklahoma WR's status vs. Texas

Deion Burks will reportedly be out for Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry on Saturday.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel tweeted the latest status for the Sooners’ top receiver on Thursday.

“Sources: Oklahoma leading wide receiver Deion Burks is not expected to play against No. 1 Texas this weekend,” Thamel wrote. “He’d been listed as questionable.”

Burks missed Oklahoma’s last game at Auburn due to a soft-tissue injury he had against Tennessee. He then had a bye week to get healthy but, in the end, apparently isn’t yet good enough to give it a go this weekend against the Longhorns.

Burks is the leading receiver this season in Norman. He has caught 26 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns through four games this fall. That’s eight more receptions than the second-closest while also being more than the next wideout by 16 catches. It’s also triple the scores of the next leader in touchdowns as no other pass-catcher has more than one apiece.

In total, Burks has accounted for nearly a third of their receptions, almost a quarter of their receiving yards, and over a third of their scores in the passing game overall.

On the injury report on Wednesday, Burks had a designation of questionable. Brent Venables had said to start the week that they’d have to see this week if he could be available. However, he’ll now join four other wideouts in Jayden Gibson, Jalil Farooq, Nic Anderson, and Andrel Anthony with a listing of out as of yesterday. Those five also all missed their last game in that win on The Plains before their idle weekend.

That made it a big ask of Michael Hawkins, the Sooners’ new quarterback, in his first collegiate start. He completed 10 passes to four receivers on the afternoon as they went run heavy on offense with 32 carries for 130 yards, including 14 for 69 yards and a touchdown by Hawkins himself.

Now, with this absence, Hawkins will now be in a similar position with a heavily-depleted receiving corps for this rivalry game.