AUSTIN – Quinn Ewers nearly played for the Texas Longhorns in their SEC opener vs. Mississippi State.

In fact, there was no clear decision on his status for the game until before Saturday’s kickoff.

This would indicate that, with two more weeks of rehab, Ewers should be ready to return for the Longhorns’ annual trip to Dallas for the Red River Rivalry. But that remains to be seen.

Ewers, of course, suffered an abdominal strain in the Longhorns’ 56-7 win over UTSA in Week 3, causing him to miss the last two games.

On Monday, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian gave the latest update on Ewers, and how he has fared thus far in his recovery.

“He’s just rehabbing as he has been. I think he’s been making steady progress one day to the next, which is a good sign,” Sarkisian said. “We haven’t had any setbacks. It’s been steady progress. I think he’s getting stronger and more comfortable and more confident, and so we’ll just kind of stay the course with that.”

In other words, barring any setbacks over the next couple of weeks, it appears Ewers is on the cusp of being ready for his return as planned for the October 12 matchup vs. the Oklahoma Sooners.

If that is indeed the case, it would be fantastic news for the Longhorns, who are set to face an Oklahoma defense that will be as talented as they have seen all season.

Yes, the Oklahoma offense did give up 338 yards through the air to a struggling Auburn passing game. But that doesn’t take away from the amount of NFL talent on the Sooners defensive unit, and having their team leader back for a matchup that typically proves to be unpredictable could be critical.

Of course, if Ewers can’t go, Arch Manning has proven he can carry the load.

“We need Quinn back because he’s our quarterback, and he’s our leader,” Sarkisian said Saturday. “I think that that impacts the entire team’s belief. But what I think we learned, and what Arch kind of earned here over the last two and a half games, is this team can count on him too… When we get Quinn back, we’re all going to be excited about that but we also know, gosh, what a luxury that we do have. And what valuable experience Arch got here over the last two and a half games.”