Texas sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers is “week-to-week” after suffering an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder in Saturday’s win over Houston.
Ewers suffered the injury on a third-quarter play as Houston’s David Ugwoegbu made an aggressive tackle to stop the quarterback short of the first down. Ugwoegbu was also injured on the play. Ewers continued to play but was later taken to the locker room and did not return. The injury is not considered season-ending.
“Obviously, there’s a level of disappointment,” head coach Steve Sarkisian told the media on Monday. “Nobody likes to get injured. I give him a lot of credit because he tried to play. That last drive, he was not healthy. He tried to play through it. … He knew what he could give to the team wasn’t going to be good enough.”
The team turned to redshirt freshman Maalik Murphy in Ewers’ absence, and he helped facilitate the winning touchdown drive as the Longhorns leaned on their running backs.
“Maalik had to come into that game, and I thought he showed great poise and composure,” Sarkisian said. “I know it became kind of a running game right there, but to handle that situation on the road, I was really proud of him.
Ewers is in his second season as the Longhorns’ starting quarterback and has thrown for over 4,000 yards and 28 touchdowns in 17 games. He was also injured last season against Alabama and missed three games. Sarkisian believes that experience can help him prepare for an eventual return to the field.
“He knows what it takes to keep himself mentally sharp, to be dialed into the game plan, to support the other guys and how they can lean into him and offer that support, and being a great teammate for all the guys,” Sarkisian remarked. “In the end, I know he’s going to work tirelessly to try to get himself back.”
Without Ewers, the team will turn to a combination of Murphy and heralded true freshman Arch Manning, who will split the reps in practice this week.
“We’ll go through the week, and Arch and Maalik will get a ton of reps,” Sarkisian explained. “If the game was played today, Maalik would start the game, and Arch will be ready to go. … Not every school is as fortunate to have the quarterback room that we have and the connectivity that room has.”
The No.7 Longhorns (6-1, 3-1 in the Big 12) continue their season by hosting BYU (5-2, 2-2) at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.
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