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Injury Report: Offensive line depth issues becoming more apparent

FAYETTEVILLE – Not even a full week into fall camp, Arkansas’ already thin offensive line has seen several players go down with injuries.

Jalen Merrick and Deion Malone were no-shows at Tuesday’s practice and Dylan Hays was wearing a green non-contact jersey. Throw in the already known injured players, Colton Jackson (back) and Ryan Winkel (pectoral), the Razorbacks were down to nine scholarship offensive linemen for the day.

The most significant injury is to Malone, who hurt his knee during a pass-rush drill Monday – his third practice back on that side of the ball – and required season-ending surgery.

“It’s unfortunate and an area we were already struggled with a little bit of depth issues, but again, that’s why they call it coaching,” Morris said. “We have to continue to bring guys along.”

A former junior college transfer from Northwest Mississippi C.C., Malone was set to be a fifth-year senior this season. He redshirted as an offensive lineman in 2016, his first year on campus, and did not appear in any games as a defensive lineman last season.

There is a potential for him to receive a medical redshirt, but Morris said they would pursue that possibility “down the road.”

Merrick, a former four-star recruit, came into fall camp as a back-up right guard who many expected to push for a starting role. However, he was spotted riding a stationary bike with the trainers Friday and hasn’t been seen during either open portion of practice this week.

Morris ended the mystery Tuesday by revealing that Merrick experienced headaches throughout the summer and the Razorbacks are getting him checked out as a precautionary measure. They hope to have him back in the next few days or early next week.

Of the three new injuries, Hays seems to be the one Morris is least concerned about. He went through the first two helmets-only practices of fall camp, but has worn a green jersey the last two days because of a back strain. Morris said he is “day-to-day.”

“It’s just part of football you go through,” Morris said. “I think you deal with some bumps and bruises and nicks along the way and you try and adjust your practice with these guys. Fortunately, we’ll be getting them back.”

All other banged up players are experiencing little “nicks and nagging injuries,” but they were “nothing major,” Morris said.

Defensive tackle Briston Guidry was still in a yellow jersey and riding a bike Tuesday. He is day-to-day with his knee injury and is anticipated to return before the end of next week.

Fellow defensive tackles Austin Capps and Billy Ferrell were also wearing yellow Tuesday. Morris didn’t provide updates on either of them, but Capps missed most of the spring with a hernia and Ferrell had his knee scoped last December.

The only other player wearing a yellow jersey was wide receiver Deon Stewart. He was held out as a precaution with a minor hamstring issue – something Morris said is common for his position at this time of year.

“DBs don’t have hamstring problems because they do a lot of back-pedaling, as opposed to wide receivers, where you’re accelerating and you’re bursting,” Morris said. “Back-pedaling really helps build the hamstring up and you’re constantly keeping it loose, as opposed to spring straight ahead as a wide receiver.”

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