A lot has changed for Xavier Worthy since his last game at Royal-Memorial Stadium.

For starters, the junior wide receiver won’t be trying to catch a pass with a broken hand when No. 11 Texas opens its season against Rice next weekend. Even though he had seven receptions, Worthy couldn’t say that was the case during UT’s home finale against Baylor last November.

Worthy says he’s matured and developed a new mindset. Teammates say he’s taken on more of a leadership role.

Worthy even has a new jersey number. Sort of. Over his first 13 home games, Worthy wore No. 8. He switched to No. 1 — his old high school number — for the Alamo Bowl.

However, Texas is hoping that some things never change.

Worthy has emerged as a top target over his first two seasons. He has recorded 122 receptions for 1,741 yards and 21 touchdowns. In program history, only Roy Williams (36) and Jordan Shipley (33) have tallied more touchdown catches.

"That boy (is) different," fellow receiver Adonai Mitchell said. "The way he can turn it from zero to 100 in like two steps, it's not (many) guys that can do that. I personally can't."

A season of bad breaks

Worthy played through the second half of the 2022 season with a broken hand. Texas, though, didn't reveal that until three months after the season ended. When pressed by a reporter in March on why he kept Worthy’s injury a secret, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian replied, “Because I don’t have to tell you.”

At the time, Sarkisian argued that discussing the injury would have put the Longhorns at a competitive disadvantage since Worthy was still playing. But while Texas’ opponents were in the dark about Worthy’s hand, so were the media and fans. That led to a lack of public grace when Worthy struggled, most notably during the Alamo Bowl, in which he dropped two long passes.

Worthy believes he's his toughest critic, but he also saw what others said about him last season.

“With social media going on, there’s a lot going on,” he said. “It’s hard to not read stuff going on. I’d see some of the stuff, and it will mess you up.”

Finding fun in football, peace of mind

This offseason, Worthy took a week to go home to California and reset mentally. His mother, Nicky Jones, suggested that he start to meditate. Worthy said his mom meditates every day.

“I don’t want to put it in her head, act like she put me on, but she did,” said Worthy, who doesn’t need incense or music to meditate. He prefers to just sit outside in silence and think.

When asked at Big 12 media days if he was happy with the results of his mental reset, Worthy said he was in “a good headspace, and I'm ready for the season.”

Sarkisian, who described Worthy as one of the smartest and most hardworking players on the team, also has noticed a difference.

"We put a lot of burden on him to make plays because of maybe lack of depth at that position early on in his career," Sarkisian said. "When you're just playing and it's going great, life is good. The moment you realize the burden on you, then you can press. That's in any sport, right? That's why we all like watching the Masters, right? Watching 16, 17 and 18. All of a sudden you're playing a great round, and wait, now I really need to make this putt, now I really need to hit this drive or the free throw at the end of the game. When you assume the burden, then how do you perform?

"I think that's where some of the mental work that he's done will be very helpful for him. When you assume the burden, sometimes you lose the joy in what we get to do. Football is a game, and we want to enjoy it, we want to have fun doing it, and that's probably the biggest thing I see out of him right now. The work ethic is still there, but I think he is really enjoying what he gets to do and being in our building and being around his teammates and playing the game of football."

That was then; this is now

Worthy rarely spoke to the media last season, but he was among the team's representatives at media days this summer. When asked why he made the trip to Arlington, he said it was part of being a leader and that he was trying to embrace that role. Part of being a leader for this program has also been hyping up the players at practices and mentoring young receivers such as freshman Johntay Cook II.

"He's stepped up more in leadership," senior receiver Jordan Whittington said. "It's going to be a really good year for him."

"He carries himself in a very professional way," senior defensive back Jahdae Barron said. "Xavier, he catches probably, I don't even know the number, but it's over 1,000 balls a day. Him being a leader with his actions, it gave him the confidence to be a leader with his preach. Most definitely, people are going to follow him."

Worthy believes he's gotten better this offseason not only as a leader, but also as a player. In order to fine-tune his route tree, he leaned on the words of NFL star Davante Adams and practiced every route at full speed instead of doing things like cone drills. The 6-foot-1, 172-pound Worthy told reporters last week that getting hit with a bag by UT director of football performance Torre Becton has helped him work on securing contested catches.

Worthy was an all-conference honoree last season, but he struggled to connect with quarterback Quinn Ewers on deep routes. As a freshman, Worthy recorded four catches of at least 50 yards. His longest reception in 2022 went for 46.

But Worthy might not need to go deep to record big plays this fall since the UT receiving corps has been bolstered by the return of Whittington as well as Cook's arrival, Mitchell's transfer from Georgia and having a healthy Isaiah Neyor.

"Now all of a sudden when you've got to pull the safety out of the top to (help cover deep), that creates opportunities for Xavier to not always have to (go deep) to create explosive plays," Sarkisian said. "I think about his freshman year, he catches an in-cut against Texas Tech, and he makes one guy miss a tackle and then he can go score from a distance. It still ends up being a (62-yard) touchdown pass, but we really had to only throw the ball 15 or so yards, so that's helpful."

Saturday's season opener

Rice at No. 11 Texas, 2:30 p.m., Fox, 1300

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football receiver Xavier Worthy looks to lead Longhorns in 2023