Texas LB Dalton Santos apparently undergoes ankle surgery

The Malik Jefferson era is getting a quick start for the Texas Longhorns in large part because of a slow recovery by senior linebacker Dalton Santos following his spring ankle injury.

Now it appears that Santos recently underwent another surgery to repair that injured ankle that could force him to take a redshirt season or give up football altogether (Justin Wells of Inside Texas believes he will take a medical redshirt):

@Daltonsantos55 @grace_santos00 @tinamakowsky @wyattsantos78 Bout to go get ankle fixed prayers needed! #hookem pic.twitter.com/clnv6VOZSZ

— Albert T Santos (@AlbertTSantos78) September 3, 2015

Head coach Charlie Strong ruled Santos out for the Notre Dame game on Monday and though the school has not made any official announcements about the status of the 6'2, 257-pounder, the picture and caption seemingly tell the tale.

Originally expected back some time in mid-July, Santos was limited through fall camp, raising questions about his availability this season, with some rumors that he could need a redshirt season to fully recover. It now appears that those concerns were well-founded.

A consensus four-star prospect and top-10 inside linebacker out of Van in the 2012 class, Santos developed a reputation as a strong special teams player early in his career and started one game as a freshman. In 2013, he moved into the starting lineup for seven games and finished fourth on the team with 74 tackles. However, the 2014 season saw Santos struggle to stay healthy or earn playing time behind Steve Edmond, so he only made 11 tackles and no disruptive plays (tackles for loss, sacks, interceptions, or forced fumbles).