TCU got a boost on Tuesday as two important pieces moved back onto the practice field, and one of them is already lined up to suit up this weekend.
Head coach Sonny Dykes said receiver Jordan Dwyer and Zach Chapman both practiced Tuesday as the Frogs prepare for Saturday’s Big 12 opener against UCF. Dykes said Dwyer will play against the Golden Knights, giving quarterback Jaden Craig another target as the offense gets ready to open conference play.
“It’s going to be good to have Jordan back this week because I think when we went through fall ball and into fall camp, I thought Jaden and Jordan really got on the same page,” Dykes said. “It’s going to be good to have Jordan back out there and Jaden knows exactly what he’s going to get from him.”
Dwyer was working at full speed Tuesday, and Dykes said the staff will keep watching him through the week. Even so, the coach made it sound like Dwyer is already close to his normal form.
“He had a full practice today and he’ll do the same thing tomorrow,” Dykes said of Dwyer. “We’ll try to get him pushed through the week and same thing on Friday. We’ll see how he handles it all and hopefully full speed ahead on Saturday.”
“He looks great, looks like there’s nothing wrong. You would never know he’s got anything happening.”
Chapman is also trending in the right direction, though Dykes stopped short of locking him in for Saturday. He said the defensive lineman practiced Tuesday and the team will track his week before deciding on his game status.
“He practiced today and we’ll see how he does during the week and see what his availability is going to be on Saturday,” Dykes said.
The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Chapman played in 11 games with nine starts in 2025, finishing with 28 tackles, three tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Dykes said Chapman’s return would matter on the defensive side because of the size, experience and physicality he brings.
“He brings a lot of experience, lot of size, power, he’s been a good player for us and played a lot of snaps for us,” Dykes said of Chapman. “He gives us another big body to get into the rotation and a guy that’s played at a high level and is physical at the line of scrimmage and create some problems for an offense.
I’m excited to get him back and as I said, I thought he looked really good today. We’ll see how the week plays out.”
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