Steve Sarkisian provides update on tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders

The Texas Longhorns climbed to 5-0 on the season and can now turn their attention to the Red River Showdown against the Oklahoma Sooners next Saturday. But before they start to prepare for their heated rival, head coach Steve Sarkisian provided an update on the status of tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders.

Sarkisian had a positive update, revealing that ‘there is nothing structurally wrong with Sanders.’

“He got rolled up,” Sarkisian said, via InsideTexas Joe Cook. “We’re hopeful we’re going to get him back by next week. How does he respond? It’s not anything that we think is structural. It’s not a broken bone or a torn ligament or something, but how bodies respond is how they respond. I know our medical staff and he will do all the work they can to get him as healthy as they can to see if he’s going to be able to play or not next week. We’ll find out. We watched him run on the sidelines and we just didn’t feel like it was going to be in his best interest to put him back out there in the state that he was in.”

Sarkisian talks Sanders injury and others during the game

Injuries plagued Texas against Kansas, with a couple of key guys going down. Sanders was one of them, as Sarkisian revealed he suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter. Cornerback Ryan Watts went down too and unfortunately, there is unfortunate news on both.

ESPN’s Molly McGrath revealed Sanders and Watts have been ruled out for the second half. Both are critical players for Texas and will be missed. Currently in a battle against Kansas, Sarkisian is going to have to trust his depth moving forward.

“Tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders is out for the rest of the game with a left ankle injury,” McGrath said before Texas’ offensive first drive of the second half. “He just came out of the locker room in street clothes. And corner Ryan Watts is also ruled out for the second half with a leg injury.”

Sanders was attempting to block and was rolled up on when Texas was down in the red zone. Always a scary moment, especially since Sanders’ back was to the play. He had no idea somebody was about to land on his ankle.

As for Watts, he never went down on the field and was able to walk off the field under his own power. However, it was with a limp and maybe was not thought much of since Texas rotates at cornerback quite frequently. But a leg injury is going to keep him out for the rest of the game vs. Kansas.