Former Texas standout and Cincinnati Bengals' 2018 third-round pick will be waived on Saturday as the team trims its roster to 53 players, NFL Media analyst Tom Pelissero reports.

Jefferson was placed on injured reserve by the franchise in December and was working on his return to the field. He did not play in Thursday's preseason game due to what the Bengals labeled as a non-football injury.

According to Pro Football Talk, the Bengals also cut two linebackers on Friday, which leaves Preston Brown, Nick Vigil, Jordan Evans, Hardy Nickerson, Germaine Pratt, Deshaun Davis and Noah Dawkins in the mix at the position.

Earlier this summer, Jefferson talked about the Longhorns' turnaround under Tom Herman and spoke highly of his former coach.

“They go out every week and they go out and work out with a purpose,” Jefferson said. “They’re a close-knit team. When we first came in there, that’s what we were trying to build.

"It may not have been about us winning at that time, but we achieved our goal because those guys are in that position now to be a top-five, No. 1-contending team this year.”

Jefferson was the second Texas player to hear his name called last year at the NFL Draft after offensive lineman Connor Williams was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round. The pick made Jefferson the first linebacker selected in the NFL Draft out of Texas since Jordan Hicks was selected in the third round back in 2005. Jefferson joined Hicks as the first Longhorns' LBs picked in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft since Derrick Johnson was taken in Round 1 in 2005.

A former five-star recruit from Mesquite Poteet High School outside of Dallas, Jefferson has played a major role for the Longhorns since the moment he enrolled at Texas in January 2015. The talented linebacker gave former head coach Charlie Strong significant recruiting moment when he pledged to Texas as a member of the 2015 signing class, and followed it up with a solid career playing in burnt orange.

Jefferson's first season in the NFL came after he was a key component to defensive coordinator Todd Orlando's unit last season, which finished 2017 in the Top 10 in the nation in run defense (No. 8), third-down conversion percentage defense (No. 3) and fourth-down conversion percentage defense (No. 7).

A three-year starter at Texas, Jefferson saw action in 34 games for the Longhorns with 29 career starts, including starting all 12 regular-season games in his final year at Texas. The linebacker led Texas with 110 tackles, including 10 tackles for loss, as a junior.

Horns247 analyst Taylor Estes contributed to this report.