NORMAN — Brent Venables has repeatedly hinted that the Sooners could get a couple of receivers back for this weekend's clash with Missouri.

With the SEC Availability Report released, it's clear that those players are Jalil Farooq and Deion Burks. Both players are listed as "questionable" on Wednesday's report.

A "probable" designation indicates a player is "likely to play barring any setbacks," according to the conference. A "questionable" designation indicates a player is "uncertain" to play, while a "doubtful" designation means a player is unlikely to play.

Farooq hasn't played since Week 1, when he suffered a broken foot against Temple. The absence of the fourth-year receiver, who is the Sooners' longest-tenured and most-productive receiver, has been notable as the passing offense has struggled.

Farooq was originally projected to be out for around eight weeks, with Saturday's game marking 11 weeks since the injury. But he's consistently been ramping up towards a return, and those efforts have increased over the last couple of weeks.

"You just kind of work up to the workload and then you get out on the field and you run," Venables said. "Our training staff handles that along with just our entire performance staff tracking through (the app) "Catapault" his total yards and the change of direction and leading up to that from an endurance standpoint, additional conditioning without the pounding on your foot in the pool and on the treadmill in the pool.

"They've done a really nice job, then again, catching on the Jugs, catching off of a live arm over again the last several weeks and then incrementally moving into a return to play form based on how he's handling everything. We don't want to rush it but we're working him up to that."

Burks hasn't played since exiting against Tennessee in Week 4 with a "soft-tissue" injury. Burks was listed as a "game-time decision" three weeks ago against South Carolina and went through pregame warmups but didn't see the field. He was originally ruled as questionable against Ole Miss before being officially ruled out. Despite missing the last five games, Burks is still second on the team in receptions (26).

If both players can return against Missouri — a defense that ranks 10th in passing yards allowed — quarterback Jackson Arnold expects it to be a huge boost to the offense."

"I feel like on the field, obviously you've got two explosive guys coming back that are key pieces to our offense... Outside of that, it almost opens up the running game too, because you've got DBs now focusing, and even backers focusing on Jalil and Deion. How can we stop them from a gameplan perspective? How can we stop those guys?

"And in reality, it opens up your running game, it opens up a lot of things, but I think on top of that too it just builds a whole lot of confidence for our offense. We're going into this week like, 'Damn, we got two of our studs back at receiver?' Like, we've had guys play great, but you get two leaders, two studs coming back, it's a big confidence booster for the offense."

Outside of Burks and Farooq, the Sooners have other notable injuries. Jacob Sexton and Jake Taylor are both listed as out, while Michael Tarquin is listed as questionable. Without them, the Sooners leaned on Spencer Brown and Logan Howland last weekend against Maine while also giving true freshmen like Eddy Pierre-Louis, Isaiah Autry-Dent and Daniel Akinkunmi a chance on the field.

Nic Anderson and Andrel Anthony have already been ruled out for this weekend.

Gavin Sawchuk, Adepoju Adebawore, Jovantae Barnes and Joshua Bates are listed as questionable. Sawchuk has missed the last couple of games with an injury, while Adebawore appeared to injure himself in the second half against Maine. Barnes recorded 203 rushing yards and three touchdowns last week against Maine, and it's unclear the severity of his injury.

Fortunately for the Sooners, defensive end Ethan Downs is listed as probable. Downs missed last weekend with back spasms.

For Missouri, quarterback Brady Cook is listed as questionable. Without Cook, who has dealt with injuries this season and missed most of the team's previous game against Alabama, the Tigers would lean on back-up quarterback Drew Pyne.

The Sooners kickoff at Missouri at 6:45 p.m. Saturday on SEC Network.

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