It's been a case of good news, bad news for the Longhorns in the world of early recruiting for the 2006 class. The good … Texas has gained commitments from 22 players and is the early front-runner to ink the nation's top class. The bad … a handful of the Longhorn commits have suffered off-season injuries and will miss considerable time on the field.

The most recent case of unfortunate events surrounds the quarterback position, a spot at which the Horns need all the positive touches that lady luck can apply. But on the bright side, this week's damper developments do not appear to be nearly as catastrophic as originally believed.

Arlington Bowie quarterback Sherrod Harris, perhaps the most important name on UT's early commitment list, confirmed on Wednesday that he'll miss some time with a hernia that he suffered as a result of some intense summer workouts.

Early reports had Harris possibly missing the entire season, but the blue-chip signal caller and his father, Gary Saunders, said after looking into the matter they're thinking anywhere from two to six weeks of time on the shelf.

"I don't think it will even be that long," said Harris. "They've said they've seen some cases where it went two weeks, some where it went four. So I'm all good."

The injury resulted from Harris doing sit-ups while holding a 45-pound weightlifting plate, and Harris initially thought it was a strain. But after having some difficulty putting as much zip on the ball as he normally does, he had a Bowie trainer take a look.

"It's just a little tight when I throw. This past week I was throwing the ball more and I started noticing it. One of my trainers said I had a knot so I went to the doctor to get it checked out," said Harris

Next week, Sherrod will have a surgeon take a closer look and they'll decide a course of action at that point.

"We've been researching it a little bit and with a bye, he's hoping he'll be ready by around district time," said Saunders. "I know Sherrod's a little disappointed because he's been working out really hard. But injuries are part of the game, so we'll see how he deals with and make sure he encourages the team."

Besides surgery, other possible options include wearing a belt or simply pushing the hernia back into place. Harris, who said he fully intends to return to action before the six-week estimation, said he'll do whatever necessary and he's keeping his spirits up.

"I've been working so hard. But I understand that stuff happens and it's all about how you come back from it," he said.