Allen Patrick wasn’t Oklahoma’s only projected starter held out of Saturday’s scrimmage.

Offensive tackle Branndon Braxton, safety Darien Williams and cornerback Reggie Smith were also kept on the sidelines.

OU coach Bob Stoops expects Braxton and Williams to both return to practice Monday. Braxton suffered an ankle injury last week. Williams has been recovering from offseason knee surgery.

Stoops said Smith’s day off was a preventive decision.

“Reggie’s got just a slight nagging deal in his leg. It isn’t anything serious. We’re just making sure this is the time to get it healed,” Stoops said. “He could have gone today, but we’re going to make sure it’s healed and where it needs to be. I don’t want it to bother him through the year.”

Patrick wore a medical boot on his right leg and was on crutches due to the ankle injury he suffered Wednesday. He’s expected to be out at least another week.

Patrick missed the Texas Tech and Baylor games with a similar injury last season.

“Talking to him, he doesn’t feel it’s as bad as last year when he sprained it,” Stoops said. “Hopefully it won’t be too long.”

Running woes

The offense struggled to run the ball Saturday. The defense had a lot to do with the problems.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson also said the main emphasis was pass plays for the quarterbacks. But he was still ticked that his group only managed 117 yards on 30 attempts.

“For us to be a good offense, we’ve got to run the ball and have some balance. Today, I don’t think we did that very well,” Wilson said. “I think we’re trying to force the pass a little bit. Every play we can throw at those quarterbacks is one more play before game day. Maybe that gets me a little one-dimensional, and I don’t want to be.

“But in reality, we didn’t block and we didn’t run and we didn’t execute the run game cleanly.”

Kicking game

Stoops was impressed with his kicking game Saturday. The NCAA has moved kickoffs from the 35 to the 30-yard line this season. Those extra yards will create more return opportunities.