Jeffcoat says last season was embarrassing

Senior defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat is projected to be a top round pick in the 2014 NFL draft, but he has yet to complete a season at Texas injury free. Jeffcoat told me the biggest critique he is facing is that people think he's injury prone.

"The biggest critique is that I can not stay healthy and they want to see me stay healthy," Jeffcoat said at Big 12 Media Days. "That is one thing that I have been working on.

"The injuries that I had were things that I couldn't prevent. Especially my pecs, they were freak accidents. There was no way that I could have done extra curls or anything like that, there was nothing extra that I could have done for that."

Jeffcoat said he expects to see progress on the field in 2013, after the disappointing defensive numbers in 2012.

"It was definitely embarrassing. We worked so hard and things just didn't go the way you wanted it. And sometimes that happens. So we realized that this year we're going to do something different. We're going to get better. We're going to be better than last year. As you see the pattern has been from five and seven, to eight games, to nine games and we can get better from there."

Texas has been on a "rebuilding" path after the five and seven season in 2010. With 19 returning starters back on the 40-acres, the Longhorns have no reason to not out-perform last season.