David Stone's infuriating injury update adds to fans' Oklahoma practice concerns

Life keeps getting worse for the Oklahoma Sooners.

On3's Pete Nakos and George Stoia reported that OU starting defensive tackle David Stone suffered a lower-body injury during Monday's practice, just two days after Stone had what was probably his best performance as a Sooner in Oklahoma's 14-6 win over New Mexico. This also happens the same week the Sooners begin SEC play against No. 2 Georgia on Saturday in Athens.

ESPN's Pete Thamel later reported that Stone will undergo an MRI on Tuesday, but Sooners On SI has us bracing for the worst. According to Sooners on SI, Stone dislocated his left knee, and the fear is that he will miss the rest of the season.

Injury news like this has started to feel like a daily thing for Sooner Nation, especially with another update coming out of practice. And this will infuriate OU fans even more about this latest update.

Sooners On SI also revealed that the outlet was told that Stone suffered the injury while practicing on a goal-line package for the offense. If true, this was a serious injury that could have easily been avoided.

Fans have already been questioning why the Sooners have had so many players injured during practices and whether there need to be changes. The answer is clearly yes. The Sooners are basically self-sabotaging at this point.

Stone, a junior, had just taken over as a full-time starter on the defensive line with expectations of a breakout season to prove his five-star potential as a recruit in 2024. He finally looked the part of a future first-round NFL Draft pick on Saturday night.

He tied for the team high with eight tackles against New Mexico, as well as two tackles for loss (also a team high) and a half sack. That brought his season total to 12 tackles with the two TFL and half sack in three games.

Stone got to Oklahoma in 2024 as a consensus five-star recruit and No. 5 overall prospect in the class by Rivals. He immediately got time in the rotation and appeared in every game as a freshman, recording six tackles, two TFL and a sack. He then briefly entered his name in the transfer portal before withdrawing in a bizarre move.

He then improved his numbers last year with 42 tackles, eight TFL and 1.5 sacks. That set the table for what was expected to be one monster season for Stone before he headed to the NFL after being projected as a first-round pick by multiple mock drafts over the summer. He was selected as a preseason All-American by multiple outlets and was Preseason All-SEC Second Team.

However long Stone is sidelined, either Georgia State transfer Bishop Thomas, Trent Wilson or Nigel Smith II will likely replace him in the starting lineup. All will need to step up alongside fellow starter Jayden Jackson in the interior. Braxton Fely, who was just added to the roster from Boise State the night before the season started, could also find himself in a bigger role.

Sooners' growing injury list is littered with key pieces

Stone grows what was already a lengthy injury list for the Sooners. OU on Saturday was without linebackers Kip Lewis and Cole Sullivan, safety Michael Boganowski, left tackle Michael Fasusi, and wide receiver Trell Harris. All five of those players are considered starters at their position, so the Sooners aren't just missing players, but crucial pieces heading into SEC play.

Lewis is expected to still be out against Georgia.

With the Sooners kicking off SEC play, we will now get daily availability reports starting on Wednesday for consistent updates on these injured players' statuses. With that, OU head coach Brent Venables will probably be pretty hush about injury updates, including during Tuesday's press conference.

The biggest question OU fans have for Venables right now, though, would be what the heck is going on during practices for all these injuries to keep piling up on a yearly basis? That question might actually need to be asked now, after a peek behind the curtain about Stone's injury.

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