The Arkansas Razorbacks football team will be shorthanded on offense ahead of Saturday's showdown against No. 10 Missouri, but they do have a good shot at getting two key players back from injury.
Head coach Sam Pittman provided updates on a handful of injured players on Monday and some of the news won't please Razorback fans.
"Rocket (Sanders) has a labral tear (shoulder) and so he at some point here in the next few days, he’ll have to get that repaired," Pittman said. "Rashod (Dubinion) has a meniscus tear, which is actually better news than what I thought on Saturday. And he is probably just getting out of that surgery right now."
Both Sanders and Dubinon are crucial players in Arkansas' running back room, so their absences will be felt heading into the Missouri game. This season, Sanders has ran the ball 62 times for 209 yards and two touchdowns. Dubinion has recorded 260 yards and a touchdown on 82 carries.
Fortunately for the Hogs, freshman running back Isaiah Augustave came on strong in the Razorbacks' 44-20 win against FIU last week. He carried the ball 14 times for 101 yards (7.2 AVG) en route to being named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week.
On top of that, redshirt junior running back Dominique Johnson looked more like his old self, as he totaled 62 yards and a touchdown off of six carries against the Panthers on Saturday.
Those two — along with junior running back AJ Green — should see an uptick in carries against the Tigers this weekend.
"We have three left," Pittman said. "Isaiah earned his carry time. Dominique earned, he looked really good the other night I thought. And certainly AJ. We’re going to try and rev up 23 a little bit more after his performance and again I really like how Dominique when he got his shoulders turned he did some good things of moving the pile. He’s a big man.
"More importantly, I think he probably got some confidence out of it. He really hadn’t had a lot of confidence in that knee. He just hasn’t. Some guys get over it earlier, faster than others, but I think he got some confidence out of a few of those really good runs he made the other night."
Though the news on Sanders and Dubinion isn't great, it does seem that at least two other players may be on the verge of making their way back to the field this weekend. After suffering a shoulder sprain against Auburn, freshman defensive back Jaylon Braxton did practice on Sunday according to Pittman. He went on to say he doesn't know if Braxton will be able to play or not against FIU.
Throughout the course of the season, Braxton has racked up 21 tackles, eight passes defended, one forced fumble and one interception.
Right tackle Patrick Kutas seems to be doing better as well after suffering an ankle injury against Florida. He didn't play in the loss to Auburn or win over FIU, but did practice yesterday according to Pittman.
Up next, Arkansas (4-7, 1-6 SEC) will face off against the Missouri Tigers (9-2, 5-2 SEC) on Friday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. The game is set to kick off at 3:00 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on CBS.
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