AUSTIN, Texas — Texas junior tight end Cade Brewer, who had his left ankle rolled up with 1:31 left in the second quarter of Texas' 37-27 loss at TCU, had surgery Monday to repair a partially torn ligament in his ankle, a source close to the situation told Horns247.com.

Brewer's surgery was considered a success, the source said, adding the tight end's recovery is expected to be four to six weeks — likely ending his regular season. But Brewer could be ready to play in a postseason bowl game, the source said.

Tom Herman said Monday on the Big 12 coaches' conference call he is optimistic the Longhorns (5-3, 3-2 Big 12) will be getting several players back from injury in time for Texas' next game — at home Nov. 9 against Kansas State (5-2, 2-2) — including:

Safety Caden Sterns (knee), safety DeMarvion Overshown (shoulder), safety B.J. Foster (shoulder), linebacker Jeffrey McCulloch (shoulder) and running back Jordan Whittington, who has been out since having surgery to repair a sports hernia injury suffered in UT's opener against Louisiana Tech.

The returns of Sterns, Overshown, Foster and McCulloch would be huge for a defense that started nine freshmen and sophomores in a 50-48, last-second win over Kansas on Oct. 19 and had safeties starting against TCU making their second career start (sophomore Montrell Estell) and first career start (Tyler Owens).

Texas struggled with giving up big passing plays in Saturday's loss to the Horned Frogs, including a 24-yard touchdown pass on third-and-17; a 51-yard pass that helped set up a TD in the third quarter; a 44-yard TD pass in the third quarter; as well as a 16-yard pass on third-and-11 and a 36-yard pass on third-and-14 on TCU's final TD drive of the game.

Sophomore cornerback Jalen Green, who missed the West Virginia, Oklahoma and Kansas games with a shoulder injury, returned to the field against TCU but saw limited action behind starters Anthony Cook and D'Shawn Jamison. Junior nickel back Josh Thompson (foot surgery) and junior safety Chris Brown (fractured forearm) remain out.

Brewer has 10 catches for 149 yards and one touchdown this season. Prior to Saturday's game at TCU, Brewer had his most productive game of the season a week earlier against Kansas, when he had three catches for 71 yards, including a 51-yard catch-and-run.

After his injury late in the second quarter of the TCU game, Brewer was replaced by freshman Jared Wiley. Sophomore tight end Reese Leitao has been working through ankle and shoulder injuries, a source said.

Texas punter Ryan Bujcevski had surgery Sunday to repair a broken clavicle suffered in the TCU game after Bujcevski ran for 3 yards and a first down on a fake punt on fourth-and-1 from the Texas 34 early in the third quarter.

Tom Herman said on the Big 12 coaches' conference call Monday Bujcevski's injury is not season-ending, adding that walk-on kicker/punter Chris Naggar and starting kicker Cameron Dicker would compete to replace Bujcevski. Herman didn't state the timetable for Bujcevski's return.

"Chris Naggar and our kicker (Dicker) will have a two-week battle," Herman said. "The good thing the kicker has going is he's been in some close-game situations."

Naggar had one punt in the TCU game — a 54-yarder from UT's 27 that was downed at the TCU 19 with 2:33 left in the third quarter.

Herman said Sterns, a freshman All-American for Texas last season, had a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection Saturday (in which Sterns' own blood is spun at a high rate to concentrate the plasma and then injected back into Sterns' knee at the site of the injury to help expedite the healing of injured tendons and ligaments). Herman said such an injection needs two weeks to be effective, thus the timetable for Sterns' treatment on Saturday.

Sterns, who has been out since suffering his knee injury against Oklahoma State on Sept. 21, is tied for third on the team in tackles (29) with linebacker Ayodele Adeoye despite Sterns playing in only four of eight games this season.

Overshown, who missed games against Rice, Oklahoma State and West Virginia with a back injury, got his first career start against Kansas on Oct. 19 but suffered a shoulder injury that kept him out of the TCU game.

Foster missed the Rice and Oklahoma State games with a hamstring injury and then suffered a stinger/shoulder injury at West Virginia that he aggravated against Oklahoma but tried to play through until sitting out the TCU game.

McCulloch, one of the few veterans on defense as a senior with 10 career starts, missed the Kansas and TCU games with a dislocated shoulder.

Whittington, a five-star recruit who enrolled early, drew raves from coaches for his work at running back in the spring and during fall camp before suffering his sports hernia injury in UT's season-opener, requiring surgery. Whittington had surgery for a sports hernia injury while in high school at Cuero. But Whittington's surgery this time was performed by Dr. William C. Meyers in Philadephia, considered "the Godfather" of such surgeries, according to Herman.

The Big 12 announced Monday the Texas-Kansas State game will be part of a six-day window selection by the league's TV partners and will be played at either 11 am CT or 2:30 pm CT. The time might not be announced until next Monday.

Kansas State, which is coming off a 48-41 upset of No. 5 Oklahoma in Manhattan, Kan., faces its in-state rival — the Kansas Jayhawks (3-5, 1-4) — in the Sunflower Showdown in Lawrence, Kan., this Saturday at 2:30 pm CT.