After Monday morning’s practice, Houston Cougars coach Kevin Sumlin had some updates on a few of the Cougars who were hurt last week.
Neither of the offensive linemen who suffered injuries, sophomores Ty Cloud and Ralph Oragwu, will need surgery. Cloud suffered a knee injury in Friday’s practice and Oragwu was hurt in Saturday’s scrimmage.
“He was pretty purple and swollen, but that’s good news,” Sumlin said of Cloud. “He was in a good mood yesterday. He’s trying to rehab and see where he is and get the swelling down and we’ll figure out and talk with the doctors. The good news is it’s not torn.”
As for Oragwu, Sumlin said “He’s got more of an ankle issue than a knee issue. His legs are so big that it’s kind of hard to tell. We were looking at it to see if it was swelling or if it was his leg. … The good news is that neither one of them are surgical.”
One player that wasn’t as fortunate was reserve linebacker Philip Causey, who suffered an ACL and MCL tear in his knee and will be out for the year according to Sumlin.
“He’s a great kid, great scout team guy and a great team guy,” Sumlin said. “You hate to see that happen. He (needs) surgery and that’s tough.”
The timetable on Oragwu and Cloud is not known right now, Sumlin said.
Junior center Blake Sargent returned to the field on Monday. Sargent suffered a shoulder injury during the spring then had tonsil surgery last month.
“We’re looking at him easing him back in as the backup center,” Sumlin said. “We’ll keep snapping Chris (Thompson). Kevin Forsch will move over to guard. He’s proven to us that he’s really an adequate backup center. He’ll get some snaps at Ty Cloud’s spot at left guard.”
While Cloud recovers and Forsch moves over to left guard for the time being, Sumlin said freshman Emeka Okafor will also get some reps at the position until Cloud returns.
Sumlin said DeAnthony Sims, who got some work at left guard in Saturday’s scrimmage, will move to tackle to provide some depth at that position – likely left tackle – while Chris Hill will move over to the right tackle spot. When Oragwu returns, he and Harper will continue to battle for the right tackle job.
Bryce Redman and Josh McNeill will continue to work at the right guard spot.
“Fortunately, unlike any other year, we have some depth,” Sumlin said. “They haven’t played a lot but we do have some guys that can get in there.”