HOUSTON — In his first public appearance since transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby won a temporary injunction to play in 2026 amid a sports gambling controversy, Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire called it “a stretch” that Sorsby would be ready for a September return to the field, citing his recovery from addiction and the lingering legal and procedural uncertainties.McGuire, speaking to roughly 140 Tech fans and alumni at the Touchdown Club of Houston, was one of three key school figures who publicly commented Wednesday on the ongoing Sorsby saga. Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt released a lengthy statement defending the program’s approach to Sorsby’s status, and school board chair and billionaire booster Cody Campbell made a podcast appearance commenting on the firestorm that was ignited Monday when a Lubbock County district court judge overruled the NCAA’s permanent suspension of Sorsby, who admitted to placing bets on college sports, including on Indiana football when he was a member of the team in 2022.“Brendan Sorsby is recovering from an addiction,” McGuire said. “I’ve sat down with this young man multiple times, and the things that he is going through and what he’s been through, is serious. I have a number of people in my family that were addicted to different stuff, and so I’ve seen what addiction does to people. And so for us even saying to the point — before we get to the legal part — that he can be ready Week 3 against Houston is still a stretch, because guess what, he’s still recovering.”McGuire and Hocutt struck a similar tone in their public comments on Wednesday, two days after the injunction ruling arrived. “Brendan Sorsby has not played a single down of football as a Red Raider,” Hocutt said, in a statement released minutes before McGuire took the mic in Houston. “He will miss the first two games of the 2026 season under the terms of the court’s ruling. What happens after that will depend, in no small part, on how his recovery continues to progress.“We’re taking it one day at a time as he is,” Hocutt continued. “We’ll evaluate his recovery, compliance and readiness as we go. We are watching closely, we are deeply committed to his progress and well-being and we are not operating on blind faith.”