Texas TE Andrew Beck, P Michael Dickson progressing on injury front

With spring break in the rear view and spring practice back underway, the Texas Longhorns received a bit of positive news regarding an injury at a position of need — tight end.

After recently re-breaking his foot during winter conditioning, senior tight end Andrew Beck was expected to miss a bit of spring practice and it appears his recovery timeline is going according to plan. Beck sat out of the first two spring practices prior to spring break, but was back on the field on Tuesday as the Longhorns began practice in full pads for the first time, though Beck wasn’t involved in contact drills.

Head coach Tom Herman reportedly hopes to test Beck as full speed at some point next week.

"[Beck] was a non-contact [player] so he’s running, he’s cutting and he’s catching practice," Herman said after Tuesday's practice. "He went on 7-on-7 as an individual, but it will probably be next week before we put another 300-pound man on him and have him block him and really stick that foot in the ground. But he did good [Tuesday]."

Considering the only current scholarship tight ends on the roster are redshirt freshman Peyton Aucoin and junior Garrett Gray, the ‘Horns need all the help they can get at the position so a healthy Beck is a substantial step in the right direction.

Also on the minor injury front, punter Michael Dickson, a Ray Guy Award finalist last season who suffered from a hamstring injury during offseason workouts, is also in the process of working himself back up to full speed. Although he was held out of Tuesday’s practice, Dickson practiced punting on Monday so there isn’t much cause for concern there.

Meanwhile, senior defensive back Jason Hall remains out with a significant hamstring injury. It remains unclear if he’ll return at any point throughout spring practice, but the initial recovery timetable of six-to-10 weeks suggests he’ll be ready to go soon after the spring game, at the latest.