Oklahoma has been missing a key piece to its offense since the start of Big 12 play. It sounds like Brayden Willis is close to a return.
Oklahoma has been missing a key piece to its offense since the start of Big 12 Conference play.
Starting H-back Brayden Willis went down in the Kansas State game and then missed the Iowa State game and every game since. His injury is undisclosed, but it appeared in the Kansas State game that he suffered a lower body injury.
Willis tweeted out on Saturday night after the Kansas game that he would be potentially returning to the field. Lincoln Riley reiterated that on Monday during the Big 12 teleconference.
“Brayden’s doing well,” he said. “I think he’s really, really close, so we’ll see how he develops here and how he continues to respond to treatment and all that here over the next several days. But I think he’s certainly getting pretty close.”
Since his injury, freshman Mikey Henderson has emerged in Willis’ absence. The 6 foot 2, 234 pound H-back has been an unexpected contributor and has blossomed over the last two games.
Oklahoma still has Jeremiah Hall and Austin Stogner is ‘fine’ coming off an injury in the Kansas game.
“And then I think we’ve got a lot of trust in that entire room,” Riley said. “Those guys have done a nice job. Mikey’s (Henderson) one of those guys that’s been able to take advantage of some of the time that Brayden has missed and some of the reps that he’s been able to get. He’s more and more, I think, developing more trust from his teammates and from his coaches, and that’s provided some opportunities. And he’s a talented and explosive player that’s got a really fun skillset. So the more trust he can build, the more opportunities he’s going to get.”
Oklahoma is on a bye week and will host Oklahoma State on Nov. 21.
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