Arkansas key phenomena star has sustained a brutal neck injury with 2 legs broken during home training against.. 

Arkansas key phenomena star has sustained a brutal neck injury with 2 legs broken during home training against..

 

 

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman expects cornerback Jaylon Braxton to be out for Saturday’s matchup against No. 3 Texas on Saturday. Braxton is considered by many to be Arkansas best defensive back but has been out with a knee injury since after the Hogs played at Oklahoma State in Week 2.

 

The Razorbacks could definitely use him after Ole Miss quarterbacks dismantled the Hog secondary with 562 passing yards and seven touchdown passes. During the bye week, the staff essentially held open competitions for starting roles among the defensive backs. Pittman declined to comment during Wednesday’s SEC Coaches Teleconference on who had emerged, but it definitely looks as though there will be new starters at some spots.

“We have had really good competition back there,” Pittman said. “I’m not ready to say publicly who we’re going to start, but we have had a wonderful week of preparation. Certainly have done a lot more against the pass. We needed that work. But as far as who starts, I’d rather keep that until the game time.

 

“We have had great competition,” he said. “We haven’t had any sulking, any pouting, any of that. We’ve had guys trying to — if they have lost their job, or were playing two when they were one — they certainly been trying to get their job back. And been real proud with the attitude of the team with all the changes that we’ve been looking at.”

 

While the news on Braxton is disheartening, the news on senior running back Ja’Quinden Jackson is much more encouraging. Jackson was dinged up in the Tennessee game in Week 6 and only had five carries for 26 yards two weeks later coming off the first bye week against LSU. He did not play against Mississippi State or Ole Miss the last two games. The first three weeks of the season, he led the SEC in rushing with 47 carries for 397 yards and six touchdowns (8.4 avg.)

“He’s healthy. He’s ready to go,” Pittman said. “He’s looked really good in practice, and I expect him to go out there and play at full strength and full speed, and and it’s good to have him back.”

 

The news on junior quarterback Taylen Green is more in the middle of Braxton and Jackson but leaning a little more toward Jackson. Green first injured his right knee with what is believed to be a bone bruise against Tennessee. Two weeks later, he played but was not as mobile as normal against LSU.

 

He appeared to be fully healthy against Mississippi State when he produced 79 yards on the ground to go with a touchdown, but he came down awkwardly early against Ole Miss and was clearly laboring when he returned. He did not re-enter the game after halftime.

“I think he’ll come out tonight as probable on the injury report,” Pittman said. “I can tell you, he hasn’t been full speed last week during our practices. He’s getting better every day. I love Taylen. Obviously, he gives us a chance to win each and every game. What a wonderful kid. I feel like he’ll be ready to go.”

 

Sophomore tight end Luke Hasz struggled earlier in the year with a back injury, but his role has steadily increased as he has become more healthy. He was clearly laboring on a 43-yard touchdown catch in Week 2 against Oklahoma State. Since then, he never recorded more than one catch in a game until he caught two passes for 22 yards against LSU. Then he mae four catches for 49 yards and two touchdowns the next week at Mississippi State. And the next week, he made five catches for 77 yards with a touchdown against Ole Miss.

 

“I think he’s healthy. I think he’s running better routes,” Pittman said. “Certainly, Taylen is more confident in him than he’s ever been, finding him. Obviously [Malachi Singleton] threw a good ball to him against Ole Miss.