Texas Tech makes change to injury/availability policy ahead of 2024 season

Texas Tech announced Sunday that it will provide weekly injury reports to the public for the 2024 football season. Additionally, the Red Raiders will update the status of players in question within 45 minutes of kickoff for their games.

It is a move that follows that of several other teams this season, including the entire MAC Conference. The Big Ten also adopted availability reports for all of its members in 2023.

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“Each week during the regular season, the Texas Tech sports medicine staff will provide an availability report for that week’s game notes,” the school said in a statement. “The availability report will designate student-athletes into three categories: out for the season, out for upcoming contest or questionable for upcoming contest. …Texas Tech will list the nature of the injury based upon the area it occurred (i.e. knee, ankle, upper body).”

This change will also come with a caveat in that these will be the only reports allowed to media throughout the week. That statement went on to say that coaches will not be obligated to disclose whether a player practiced that day for any of the media availabilities during the week.

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“Outside of this update each Monday, the Texas Tech coaching staff will no longer go into detail on the nature of an injury,” the statement continued. “This will include the availability of student-athletes for practice that week. Again, the goal is to provide the media with this information ahead of Monday’s regularly scheduled press conference with head coach Joey McGuire and coordinators.”

Texas Tech is set to enter its third season under McGuire after finishing with a 7-6 record this past year. The Red Raiders were picked to finish ninth in the preseason Big 12 media poll.

Tech returns running back Tahj Brooks, who rushed for 1,538 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, and starting quarterback Behren Morton. Together, they’ll look to prove that prediction wrong as the offensive leaders for Texas Tech.

Now fans and media members will have access to their injury reports for the upcoming year as well as college sports continues to look more like the pros. Texas Tech kicks off the 2024 season against Abilene Christian on Aug. 31.