Oklahoma injury updates for wide receivers Jalil Farooq and Deion Burks provide murky future for talented duo
Oklahoma's offense has been sapped by injury all season, missing most of their top five wide receivers for every single game in 2024. That doesn't sound like it will change as the Sooners gear up for their last game of the regular season against the LSU Tigers. On Tuesday, head coach Brent Venables spoke about […]
Oklahoma's offense has been sapped by injury all season, missing most of their top five wide receivers for every single game in 2024.
That doesn't sound like it will change as the Sooners gear up for their last game of the regular season against the LSU Tigers.
On Tuesday, head coach Brent Venables spoke about Jalil Farooq and Deion Burks' availability this week.
Jalil Farooq
Farooq wasn't on the Sooners' availability report Wednesday evening last week, but was declared questionable Thursday night and declared out Friday night.
Venables said he "suffered a setback" on Thursday.
"He had a little bit of a setback at Missouri. X-rays showed a little bit of a setback there. Really just kind of unfortunate. Jake Roberts, he had the same; similar type of injury, and he’s come back and had a great year. So everybody’s a little bit different.
His status to play against LSU is still up in the air, but I wouldn't be counting on it. Farooq can redshirt this season, whether he plays or not.
Deion Burks
Burks also suffered an injury against Missouri a couple of weeks ago, and it sounds like Oklahoma will be pretty cautious with his return.
"It’s still up in the air and we’ll see where he’s at. I think he’s had a history of concussions at Purdue. You keep track of all of that, that history. It’s a very delicate thing, but he’s as tough as they come…he had a grade two thigh contusion tear confirmed by an MRI. So he was dealing with that and he came back from that."
In my personal opinion, Burks has played his last game as a Sooner and will likely declare for the 2025 NFL Draft. Venables more or less confirmed my opinion today when discussing Burks's future.
"He’s a guy that’s gonna have some decisions. He could get drafted pretty high — I’m no draft expert, but I know the receivers, a lot of receivers, are taken early on, the first several rounds, and he’s a guy that he’s definitely has an NFL future, God-willing, has that in his future immediately. So we’ll see where that all lands."
It would be a huge coup for both of these players to return for 2025, but I'm not convinced that it will happen, especially with Burks. Hopefully, both can return to full health soon, whether they are in an Oklahoma uniform or not.
