Oklahoma HC Brent Venables Gives Positive Injury Update About Offensive Lineman

The Sooners expect to get one of their veteran offensive linemen back in the mix before season’s end.

On the SEC’s weekly teleconference on Wednesday, Oklahoma coach Brent Venables revealed that he is “hopeful” that offensive tackle Jacob Sexton will return before the end of the regular season.

“We do expect Jacob to get back,” Venables said.

Sexton started the first eight games of the 2024 on the left side before suffering a season-ending knee injury. The lineman is an offensive tackle by trade, but he was thrust into playing time at guard due to various injuries on the line.

In eight games in 2024, Sexton logged a Pro Football Focus (PFF) overall offensive grade of 54.8. He logged a respectable grade of 58 on run-blocking sets, but his 46.8 pass-blocking grade was well below average.

Now a senior, Sexton got healthy during the offseason but got injured again in OU’s 2025 season opener against Illinois State. He played on only six offensive snaps against the Redbirds before sustaining a lower-body injury.

Thankfully for Oklahoma, the Sooners haven’t been hit by the same level of injury bug that plagued them throughout the 2024 season.

Last year, Oklahoma started eight different starting offensive line combinations in its first nine contests. The Sooners were forced to move linemen — like Sexton — to unnatural positions regularly to fortify themselves amid the injuries.

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Center Troy Everett is out for the remainder of the season and freshman tackle Michael Fasusi missed a couple of games with an ankle injury. But overall, the Sooners are close to full strength on the line ahead of their Red River Rivalry game against Texas on Saturday. Entering the Texas game, six currently-active Sooner linemen that are graded out above 60 overall.

Venables isn’t certain when Sexton will be able to return to the rotation, but the coach is confident that the senior will add depth when he is able to go.

“Don’t know exactly what that timeline is, but he’s making progress,” Venables said.

Oklahoma comes into the Red River Rivalry 5-0 and No. 6 in the AP Top 25. The Sooners are 1-0 in conference play after beating Auburn 24-17 on Sept. 20, and they went undefeated in their non-conference slate with wins over Illinois State, Michigan, Temple and Kent State.

Saturday's game against Texas will begin at 2:30 p.m.