All Sooners

Two Oklahoma Defenders to Have Season-Ending Surgery

At his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Brent Venables gave an injury update on two of the Sooners' young defenders.
Randall Sweet|
Two Oklahoma Defenders to Have Season-Ending Surgery
Two Oklahoma Defenders to Have Season-Ending Surgery

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Oklahoma Sooners

NORMAN — On Tuesday, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables announced that two of his team’s talented young defenders will miss the remainder of the season.

Venables told reporters that redshirt freshman defensive back Jayden Rowe and true freshman linebacker Phil Picciotti are having season-ending surgery.

A source close to the situation told AllSooners that Rowe dislocated his left kneecap and that he will undergo surgery on Tuesday. 

In addition to the Picciotti and Rowe injuries, Venables said that he is hopeful for the return of redshirt senior defensive back Reggie Pearson, freshman defensive back Jasiah Wagoner, redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Savion Byrd and sophomore defensive lineman R Mason Thomas.

Venables also said that redshirt senior defensive back Justin Harrington is "evaluating options" following a knee injury against SMU that sidelined the former junior college transfer when OU met Tulsa in week three. Prior to the Sooners matchup with the Golden Hurricane, Harrington was on the field in street clothes and a knee brace.

"Hopeful for all those guys," Venables said. "We're still evaluating Harrington, in particular, about what his options might be." 

While Rowe and Picciotti haven't recorded any statistics this season, the two are both reserve players who add to the "competitive depth" of Venables' defense. Pearson, Byrd, Thomas and Harrington, on the other hand, are all major contributors who make a big impact on Saturdays. 

Pearson, Byrd and Harrington have all recorded multiple starts for the Sooners this season and would be troubling losses if they are forced to miss extended time as OU enters Big 12 play.

Fortunately for Oklahoma, there seems to be a good chance that Pearson, Byrd, Thomas and Wagoner will be back in the lineup shortly.  

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Randall Sweet
RANDALL SWEET

Randall is a recruiting analyst and staff writer at AllSooners focusing primarily on OU Football and the recruiting trail. Working as a journalist, Randall has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and high school sports across the state. A 2022 University of Oklahoma graduate, Randall hails from Lubbock, TX. While in college, Sweet wrote for the OU Daily in addition to working with Sooner Sports Pad and OU Nightly. Following his time at OU, Sweet served as the Communications Coordinator at Visit Oklahoma City before leaving to join the team at AllSooners. The West Texas native has bylines in the Norman Transcript and is a Staff Writer for Inside the Thunder. Randall holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. 

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