Overheard at Steve Sarkisian’s press conference: Quinn Ewers’ health, Jaydon Blue’s status, and more

AUSTIN - Coming off its first open week, University of Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian conducted his normal weekly press conference Monday morning.

Now back at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 following a chaotic week across the national landscape, the Longhorns (5-0, 1-0 SEC) will face Oklahoma Saturday afternoon in the Red River Rivalry for the 120th time.

Here are a few highlights from Sarkisian's presser.

On Quinn Ewers' status after missing two games "Quinn worked last week for our three practices. He practiced again today. I thought he looked good coming off the bye. I think if anybody benefited from the time off, it was probably him. We're going to monitor him daily, just to kind of see how he continues to progress, but I feel good about how he was today. I feel good about him going Saturday, but that remains to be seen. I have no hesitation with Arch going in the game. I think he's proven to us over two-and-a-half games of football that he's really played in and competed in, that he can run our offense and he can be successful."

On Jaydon Blue's status after ball-security issues vs. Mississippi State, and will he start vs. Oklahoma? "I thought they had a good week. I thought Jaydon practiced really well. I thought he, nevermind the ball. I thought just, the guy's coming off of an ankle injury and sometimes you're limited in practice leading up to a game, but he looks really healthy. He's practicing fast. I feel very comfortable with him. Both those guys (Blue and Quintrevion Wisner) are going to play in the game, and I feel comfortable with either one of them in the game that we can execute and do things at a really high level."

On the pageantry of the Red River Rivalry "I love everything about the Red River Rivalry. I love pulling into the State Fair and seeing fans from both teams and "horns up," "horns down," all the stuff is flying around the buses. I love walking the field. I love the tunnel. I love both teams being in the tunnel together. I love coming down and their fans on top of us. I love looking at the sea of burnt orange and running to that end of the field. I love the intensity of the game. I love how crowded the sidelines are. I don't know how so many people get on the sidelines for this game, but they do. Hey, whatever. I turn around and Governor Abbott's right next to me on the field, and there's just stuff that happens in this game that I think that's what makes this game special. We're fortunate to be part of it, and this week's no different."

On using his words deliberately when discussing Ewers as the starter and Manning as the backup. "It's just me being honest, I sleep better when I'm honest. Just being honest, that's how I genuinely feel. Quinn has earned and deserved that right to be our starting quarterback. Arch has continued to work really hard, and like I said, we're fortunate to have him, and the player that he is, and the leader that he is as well. It's a very fortunate situation that we're in that, again, it doesn't happen very often the way that it does, but we happen to be in that position right now. I speak to it like I would anything else. I try to be very matter of fact with you all, so I don't feel like I'm trying to send messages, or mixed messages, or anything."