Texas injury report (Week 9): Latest update on Arch Manning's men for Mississippi State game ft. CJ Baxter

The Texas Longhorns beat the Kentucky Wildcats 16-13 in overtime to record their second consecutive win in Week 9 of college football action. Coach Steve Sarkisian has been dealing with several injuries and the status of several players was included in Wednesday's injury report ahead of the Longhorns' Week 9 clash against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

The Texas Longhorns' Week 9 injury report

Below, we take a look at the Texas Longhorns' injury report ahead of their Week 9 clash against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Michael Taaffe

The Longhorns will be without safety Michael Taaffe, who broke his thumb during the clash against the Kentucky Wildcats in Week 8 action. Taaffe has been a key cog in the Longhorns' defense and has tallied 51 tackles, one sack and one interception this season.

During his weekly SEC teleconference, Steve Sarkisian revealed that Taaffe had had surgery on his injured thumb and would be out indefinitely.

“Taafee's out,” Steve Sarkisian said. “We don’t know how long. Obviously, a significant loss. We’ve got Derek Williams, Xavier Filsaime, some nice guys to step in for him.”

Jelani McDonald, Xavier Filsaime, and Derek Williams Jr. will be tasked with replacing Michael Taaffe in the Longhorns' defense.

CJ Baxter

After an injury-riddled 2024 season, Texas running back CJ Baxter once again left the game against the UTEP Miners in Week 3 with a hamstring injury and has not played for the Longhorns since then. In the latest injury report, he was listed as probable for the Week 9 game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Steve Sarkisian provided an optimistic update about the influential running back's status during his weekly SEC teleconference.

"CJ Baxter has made a lot of progress and was at practice today. Hopefully, we can get Cedric more into the fold,” Sarkisian said.

Below is the full Longhorns' injury report:

Out

Michael Taaffe

Aaron Butler

Cole Hutson

Probable

CJ Baxter

Xavier Filsaime

Jonathan Cunningham

The Texas Longhorns still have a stacked schedule, including games against the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs and the No. 10 Vanderbilt Commodores on the horizon and the return from injury of some of their starters will be a huge relief to Steve Sarkisian.

The Longhorns have a 5-2 record and still have a path to both the SEC championship game and the college football playoffs, but can't afford another loss before the season ends to achieve last season's objectives.

Edited by Cabral Opiyo