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Availability of Gary Johnson still a game-time decision against Miami. I’ll be surprised if he plays, hopefully ready for Sweet 16 if the Horns make it.

Vince Young practices but is a game-time decision against San Diego. He’s going to have to carry the team, hope he’s healthy.

Titans place Bo Scaife on injured reserve. Out with a lacerated liver suffered when Vince left one a little high over the middle.

No big surprise but sophomore forward Matt Hill will have surgery on his left heel and will miss the rest of the season. I think they were holding out hope he could get by without going under the knife and get on the court this year, but I guess that wasn’t the case. He hasn’t played at all this year so he’ll be eligible for a redshirt and will still have three years of eligibility left.

Thankfully, his hair should be fine.

Now that Hill is officially out for the year the impending return of Gary Johnson becomes even more important. Rumors are that he should be cleared sometime in early January. He arrival will bring much needed depth and energy to the team just in time for conference play.

For the third time since he left Texas, TJ Ford had to be carried off a basketball court on a stretcher last night late in the Raptors win against the Hawks. Ford had played very well throughout game (26 points & 8 assists) when he stole the ball and was off on a breakaway late in the 4th quarter. Hawks’ forward Al Horford tried to stop TJ’s drive to the basket and reached out and nailed him across the face. TJ’s head snapped back from the force of the hit and then again when his body hit the hardwood. Horford was called for a flagrant foul and ejected for the play.

ESPN video of the game and the play are below:

It’s scary to watch TJ laying on the ground screaming in pain, especially because of his history. He looks like he is scared and in an incredible amount of pain. The good news is that he had feeling in his arms and legs when he was taken off the floor. He was expected to be kept in the hospital at least overnight, but there have been no updates yet this morning on how he’s doing. We’ll post any news as we hear it.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to TJ for a speedy recovery.

Update: Ford was released from the hospital this morning. All X-rays and an MRI were negative. He was able to fly back to Toronto and was given a standing ovation when he entered the arena and joined his teammates on the bench. No word yet on when TJ might be back in action. (10:38pm)

One day after claiming no new injuries, Texas training staff announces Sergio Kindle is out for Oklahoma State game. Crap.

Kevin Durant to start tonight against Nuggets. Made it through shootaround on his bum ankle and should be good to go.

No new injuries for the Horns after Nebraska game. Roy Miller and Sergio Kindle are fortunately both healthy for OSU.

He hasn’t been cleared for the regular season yet, but freshman forward Gary Johnson has been cleared to play in Friday’s exhibition game.

Freshman point guard Dogus Balbay has season ending knee surgery. Was expected to play valuable minutes as backup to DJ Augustin.

DE Aaron Lewis is probable for Nebraska game. I thought his elbow injury was going to keep him out a lot longer. Great news.

Vince Young likely to start Sunday against Raiders. Might not be 100% but they think he won’t re-injure his quad.

Vince’s quad is improving, but he’s still questionable against the Texans. Ahmard Hall is still being held out as well for the Titans.

Fullback Antwan Cobb is out for the year with an ACL tear. Chris Ogbonnaya moves back to fullback and Blaine Irby to see snaps there as well.

Vince Young day to day with quadriceps strain. Hopefully he’s healthy enough to lay a beating on the Texans next Sunday.

In some sad news, it looks like Limas Sweed will undergo wrist surgery, effectively ending his season and career at Texas. After evaluating Sweed’s wrist after the game, the medical staff decided that Sweed was just in too much pain to continue playing football.

“We’ve been very fortunate to have Limas for the past four years,” Brown said. “He’s made a lot of great plays and had a record-setting career at Texas. Limas is a fine young man who has been a tremendous representative of our program on and off the field. We appreciate everything he did to try to help the team this year, but since he is in such intense pain, he cannot continue to play. He will stay involved helping us and supporting the team even though he won’t be able to play, but since he keeps re-aggravating this injury, it’s important that he gets it fixed because he has a bright future in the NFL.”

I wonder, if Texas was 6-0 and not 4-2, would the recommendation from the medical staff be a little different. I am not trying to say that Sweed’s injury is not serious, but winning sure can make things feel better.

Source

Orakpo and Ulatoski are out against Rice. Sherrod Harris should be back but John Chiles is still listed at #2 QB.

Chris Simms on his injury status and Texas’ trip to Central Florida. He’s expecting a big showing of Longhorns at the game. (via)

Adam Ulatoski doubtful for Central Florida. Seems like good news to me, I thought for sure he’d be “out” for several weeks.

The doctor of former UT commit Kevin Everett is now optimistic he will walk again. Great news for him and his family.

According to Orangebloods and the AAS, Brian Orakpo’s knee injury will not end his season. The description of the injury on the radio and by those who were watching on PPV was pretty gruesome, so if Orakpo can return to the field this season that’s definitely good news for him and the Texas defense. The Texas coaches were livid that no penalty was called for the illegal chop block that took Orakpo out.

No official word or rumors on how Orakpo will be out, we should know a little more later this week. Eddie Jones, who played well after Orakpo went down against Arkansas State, will start at the quick defensive end spot against TCU.

Senior wide receiver Limas Sweed suffered a possibly serious wrist injury today in practice. Officially called a wrist sprain, Texas athletic trainer Kenny Boyd stated that Sweed was expected to make a full recovery.

Boyd’s comment is uncomfortably vague. It could be a simple sprain and Limas could be back by week one against Arkansas State, or it could be a broken wrist that Limas will completely recover from in 6 - 8 weeks. The wide receiver position is one of the deepest on the team but the loss to Sweed would be a serious blow to the offense. He was reportedly looking really good in practice and I was expecting a huge season out of him.

We’ll have more information on Sweed’s injury as it becomes available.

Update: Suzanne Halliburton of the AAS is reporting the Sweed will be ready by week one against Arkansas State. Unless he’s absolutely 100% than he should sit and get ready for TCU (9/16/2007)

Holy crap.

After one of the most incredible first half performances I’ve ever seen, Kevin Durant stepped on the ankle of a Kansas defender and went down. Looked to have somehow injured both ankles and limped into the locker room with his left ankle not looking so good.

Crap.

Update: Durant came back onto the court after a few minutes in the locker room and was able to reenter the game. Definitely not 100% he was hobbling a little and not able to get up and down the court at full speed. Didn’t look like it was bad enough to effect his shot but it could definitely wear on him during a game if it’s not fully healed by the Big 12 Tournament.

Roddrick Muckelroy is healthy and will be back on the field when spring practice starts this week.

Muckelroy was the Longhorns’ best linebacker on the field through the first three games of the season before he was injured. He had surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his right ring finger suffered against Rice and was forced to miss the rest of the season. I kept waiting for him to be back after a couple of weeks, and it sounds like he was as surprised as I was that a finger injury could be so serious:

“Everything feels good,” Muckelroy said heading into the opening of spring. “Sitting out that long after starting the first three games was a setback, but I understood the injury, and I had to get it fixed because I was worried about using my finger in the future. I think it was the best thing for me, and it’s good now.”

Muckelroy had to come to terms with how a finger injury could cost him the entire remainder season. However, after it was explained, it did not leave much of a decision as to whether or not to have surgery. “When I hurt it, I went to the sidelines and told them what happened,” Muckelroy described. “I thought my finger was just broken. I wanted them to tape it up and go back in because it was fourth down.

It’ll be huge for the Texas defense to have Muck back out there. He was playing incredibly well and he brings speed, nose for the football, and big hit ability to a linebacking corps that was missing all three of those things last season. While Scott Derry played very well in his place, he’s a solid player but not a difference maker like Muckelroy can be.

Muckelroy is just the type of player Duane Akina wants for his more aggressive new defensive attitude.

Cedric Dockery won’t be participating in spring practice but his recovery from ACL surgery is going well.