Brent Venables Details Oklahoma WR Injuries, Hopes to Get a 'Couple of Guys' Back

The OU head coach gave an extensive update on the injuries the Sooners have sustained at wide receiver during his weekly Coaches Show.

Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Nic Anderson on the sideline during OU's game against the Tulane Green Wave. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Brent Venables shed some light on Oklahoma’s wide receiver woes during his weekly Coaches Show on Monday night. 

The Sooners (4-3, 1-3 SEC) have played essentially the entire season without key receivers Jalil Farooq, Nic Anderson, Andrel Anthony and Jayden Gibson, and Deion Burks has missed OU’s last three contests. 

The OU head coach said that he’s hoping to get some of those key bodies back, and he assured the fanbase that all five of those guys are working to get back onto the field, albeit on different timelines. 

“I do expect a couple of guys to be back for sure,” Venables said. “These guys aren't like holding out and wanting to go somewhere else. They're not. They love Oklahoma. They want to get on the field.”

Venables indicated that Burks is “day-to-day” this week. 

Burks was listed as a game-time decision to play against South Carolina on last week’s SEC Availability Report, but he wasn’t able to make it back into the lineup after working through pregame warmups. 

Venables also said that Farooq, who reaggravated a foot injury on the second offensive snap of the season, is still trending toward a return in 2024. 

“Jalil will be back in a few weeks. He's right on schedule,” he said. 

Anderson, who essentially played one series against Tennessee before exiting the game, is dealing with a thigh injury per Venables. 

“He’s been snake bit with a thigh injury,” Venables said. “And it's kind of in the upper thigh and the hip, and it's a real tear... He's got a significant tear that was close to having to have a surgery on it. 

“But it just takes ... It's going to say you need to chill up to three months. And those are really tough, unfortunate injuries.”

Anthony has been working back from an ACL injury that he sustained last year against Texas. 

“Andrel's had to have... He's just a guy that scars,” Venables said. “So he's had to have a couple of cleanup jobs just to take away some of the discomfort. It's real, like, very painful. But he has every intention to come back next year and possibly even play some this year.”

Gibson won’t return in 2024 due to the injury he went down with during fall camp, but Venables said that hasn’t hampered Gibson’s ability to be a great teammate at practice. 

‘They're at every practice. Man, they've brought so much juice and energy,” Venables said. “Jayden Gibson, of course he just fell on the ground. They're doing a one-on-one drill in practice... he catches the ball and he just lands really hard on the ground. And it tore his patellar tendon which is kind of like an ACL. 

“One of those, a year or maybe a little less — it takes a whole year to kind of get back. And just kind of some dumb luck.”

If either Farooq or Anthony make it back into the lineup in 2024, Venables did note that they can still play and maintain their redshirt ahead of the 2025 season. 

Venables is optimistic those guys will be able to heal up and be back with the program next year as well. 

“Hopeful we'll get a couple of those guys back and then potentially all of them back for next year. That's kind of what they've expressed to me,” Venables said. “… And they've come to me. I haven't gone to them. They came to me and said, 'man we're more excited to be back.' They were hurting that they can't be out there. 

“They want to play. You've worked your whole life. Your dreams are to play the game and they like to practice. Guys that are good at football, they like to go to practice... You want to compete.”

The Sooners will return to action this weekend to take on No. 18 Ole Miss in Oxford at 11 a.m.