Texas could soon be regaining the services of a defensive starter.
Longhorns junior linebacker Malcolm Roach, who suffered a fracture in his foot in a Sept. 15 win over USC, could return to practice this week, and the team is targeting a return to game action Nov. 10 vs. Texas Tech, if not sooner.
“We’re going to see how [Monday] and [Tuesday] go, and [he] might be able to do a little something at practice this week,” Texas coach Tom Herman said Monday. “He has progressed to the point of everything except football drills on that foot. So we’ve got to see how that goes here in the next couple days.
“Barring any setback, we’re counting on him next week. If things happen faster than that, we might be able to see him this week [vs. West Virginia].”
Roach started the Longhorns’ first three games at outside linebacker before suffering the injury in the first half of a 37-14 win over the Trojans. Roach, who has eight tackles and a quarterback hurry in his limited action this season, would give a boost to a defense that yielded 38 points to unranked Oklahoma State in a Week 9 loss, Texas’ first in Big 12 play this year.
In 2016, Roach was named Big 12 defensive freshman of the year. He has played in 27 career games, with 11 starts in his three seasons with the Longhorns, compiling 74 tackles, five sacks and 12 tackles for loss.