Texas Longhorns starting quarterback Arch Manning has not exactly lived up to the near-unprecedented hype early in his first season as a starter, but it doesn’t sound like his struggles have anything to do with an injury.
Manning’s somewhat erratic performance, coupled with an apparent grimace during a throw this week, led some fans to suggest that the young quarterback might be playing through an injury.
This week, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian addressed those concerns with a pretty strong and somewhat bizarre statement.
Arch Manning Preseason Hype
- Nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning
- Top-rated recruit in the 2023 high school recruiting class
- Completed 67.8% of his passes as a backup last season with 939 yards and 9 touchdowns
- Rushed for four touchdowns on 25 carries last season
- Preseason Heisman Trophy favorite
- Projected as No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft
Early Season Struggles
Despite all of this hype, Manning struggled quite a bit during his first start of the season, which came on the road against the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes.
During the game, Manning struggled, completing just 17 of his 30 pass attempts in the 14-7 loss, with the vast majority of those completions coming behind or within just two yards of the line of scrimmage.
Throughout the game, the young quarterback looked confused by Ohio State’s defense, had erratic throwing mechanics, missed several easy passes, threw a crucial interception, and couldn’t lead the Longhorns to any points until late in the fourth quarter.
Manning did bounce back a bit in his second start against San Jose State, completing 63 percent of his passes for 295 yards and four touchdowns while adding a touchdown on the ground. However, many of those concerns that surfaced against Ohio State were still present at times, especially the issues with his throwing mechanics, as one quarterback expert alluded to.
Fans Speculate About Injury
With Manning struggling early in the season with his mechanics and showing some apparent issues with his arm strength at times, some fans began to speculate that the young quarterback was dealing with an injury that was impacting his performance. A video that surfaced over the weekend only added fuel to that speculation.
During Saturday’s win against San Jose State, ESPN showed a close-up clip of Manning throwing a pass.
In the clip, Manning can be seen throwing a pass out of an awkward side-arm angle. After he released the pass, the young quarterback appeared to grimace in pain. It’s also worth noting that the landed substantially short of the intended target.
So…
Is Arch Manning playing hurt??
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) September 7, 2025
The video quickly went viral on social media, racking up nearly three million views on X.
Steve Sarkisian Breaks His Silence
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was not asked about any potential injury to Manning during his postgame press conference on Monday, but he broke his silence on the discourse during his press conference on Monday.
During the press conference, a reporter suggested that Manning “appeared to be having some throwing pains.” Sarkisian, appearing as though he had seen the speculation online,
“According to who?” Sarkisian responded with a stern expression on his face.
When the reporter said that Manning simply “looked like” he had pain while throwing the ball, Sarkisian had a firm response.
Sarkisian on if Arch Manning had any shoulder problems 😂 pic.twitter.com/VOGnKCpkj4
— Nash (@NashTalksTexas) September 8, 2025
“He doesn’t have any,” Sarkisian said of any potential injury or pain.
When asked why it appeared as though Manning was experiencing some discomfort, he offered a rather bizarre response.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve never filmed any of you guys when you’re using the bathroom, so I don’t know what faces you make when you’re doing that.”
Bizarre statement aside, he’s standing pretty firm against the idea that his quarterback is dealing with any sort of pain.
