Worthy played through injury
AUSTIN — The most significant bit of news Texas coach Steve Sarkisian delivered following the team’s first spring practice Monday concerned what had been one of the best kept secrets on the Forty Acres for the past few months.
According to Sarkisian, sophomore receiver Xavier Worthy played through a broken hand during the second half of the 2022 campaign. That revelation, at least, provided some new insight into why the 2021 freshman All-american who shattered program records seemed to be in such a funk.
Worthy, who played in all 13 games last season, spent about eight weeks with the broken hand in a cast this offseason. Sarkisian, who did not specify which hand Worthy broke, said the star wideout was “full speed” and sans cast Monday morning at Frank Denius Fields.
“He never wanted to sit out, not play,” Sarkisian said. “He came to work. He fought threw it. There were days in practice where we purposely didn’t throw him balls just to take some of the pressure off of it.”
Asked why he opted to keep a significant midseason injury to a leading playmaker under wraps until now, Sarkisian responded, “I don’t have to tell you.”
“Our opponents would have known, too,” Sarkisian added. “We have a lot of injuries that can occur on our team that may not keep a player out that we don’t disclose.”
A late addition to Texas’ 2021 signing class, Worthy turned in a remarkable debut season two years ago. The Big 12 newcomer of the year set program freshman records in receptions (62), receiving yards (981), receiving touchdowns (12), single-game receptions (14), single-game yardage (261) and single-game touchdowns (three).
Worthy again topped Texas in receptions (60), receiving yards (760) and receiving touchdowns (nine) in his follow-up campaign. But had had just one
100-yard performance and failed to eclipse 50 yards in seven of 13 starts.
Over the first half of the regular season, Worthy recorded 24 catches on 43 targets for 360 yards and four touchdowns. During the second half, he had 29 catches on 57 targets for 327 yards and five scores. Worthy capped the rocky year with seven catches for 84 yards in the Longhorns' 27-20 loss to Washington in the Alamo Bowl
Of the 53 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) wideouts targeted at least 100 times last year, Worthy ranked 49th in reception percentage (52.2). That wounded hand coupled with the growing pains of redshirt freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers seemed to have a negative impact on Worthy's effectiveness as Texas became more of a run-centric offense with veteran halfbacks Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson leading the way.
With those two off running backs to the NFL, Ewers making strides and Worthy healed from that secretive hand injury, Texas could look to air it out with greater success this coming season.
“Xavier is a great example,” Sarkisian said. “We don't have a guy who works harder. He's the first guy on the field, last guy off. I think we're going to see a version of Xavier Worthy that's gonna be dramatically different now that he's healthy.”
Ewers gets snaps with first team
Redshirt freshman Quinn Ewers operated as the first-team quarterback during Monday's practice. True freshman Arch Manning worked with the second team. Redshirt sophomore Maalik Murphy was limited with a lingering foot/ankle injury.
“Quinn had a really good winter,” Sarkisian said. “He was essentially a true freshman this time last year for us, so there was a lot on his mind. It's like when the gears are moving but there's no WD-40 in there, those gears are grinding. This winter it just feels more natural. He's throwing the ball well. And I think he's emerging as a leader.”
A ballyhooed high school recruit out of Southlake Carroll, Ewers reclassified and enrolled at Ohio State in the summer of 2021. He transferred to Texas after spending that lone semester on the bench behind Heisman Trophy finalist C.J. Stroud.
Ewers won the starting job over third-year sophomore Hudson Card and went on to complete 58.1 percent of his passes for 2,177 yards with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions in 10 starts.
The No. 1 overall recruit in 247Sports final Class of 2022 composite rankings, Manning certainly looked the part during open drills alongside Ewers. Aside from losing his student ID twice already, Sarkisian's pleased with what he's seen from the 6-foot-4, 212-pound freshman.
“There's some plays for sure that he would love to have back,” Sarkisian said. “And there's some other plays that he made where I think everybody was like, ‘Wow, that was a heck of a play.' So again, true freshman, should still be in high school, but he definitely brings a worker's mentality and he wants to be really good at this game.”