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Published Aug 14, 2019
Morris details injury to TE Cheyenne O'Grady, reveals timeline
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Andrew Hutchinson  •  HawgBeat
Managing Editor
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@NWAHutch

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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas seems to have avoided a significant blow to its offense in fall camp.

Tight end Cheyenne O’Grady caused a panic Tuesday night when he sent a cryptic tweet and followed it up with news of a “minor setback” that required surgery.

Luckily for the Razorbacks, it doesn’t sound like he'll miss any games. Head coach Chad Morris described it as a “knee sprain” that occurred when he got his legs tangled up with a teammate.

An arthroscopic procedure on the knee is expected to cause him to miss two weeks. That timeline would put him back in the lineup before the Aug. 31 opener against Portland State.

The fifth-year senior from Fayetteville has had an up-and-down career with the Razorbacks. Although he’s clashed with both coaching staffs he’s played under, O’Grady is an undeniable talent when on the field.

Last season, O’Grady was suspended the first two games for an undisclosed violation of team rules and wasn’t involved in the offense much the following two games. After being called out for not attending workouts and class by Dre Greenlaw, who played with him at Fayetteville High, O’Grady became one of the Razorbacks’ top weapons.

Over the final eight games of the season, he caught 30 passes for 400 yards and a team-high six touchdowns. No other Arkansas player had more than 19 receptions, 330 yards or one touchdown over that span.

Despite not doing anything the first four games, O’Grady still managed to tie for fifth among SEC tight ends in touchdown receptions and was by far Arkansas’ highest graded offensive player by Pro Football Focus at 78.3. That earned him a spot on the preseason Mackey Award watch list.

Including three he caught earlier in his career, he needs just three more touchdowns to break Jeremy Sprinkle’s UA record for a tight end.

During the first week of fall camp, though, O’Grady was running with the third-team offense as Morris tried to send him a message that he would be held “to a higher standard.” The strategy appears to have worked because he was back with the first unit this week.

“He’s responded fine,” Morris said. “I think that’s been the biggest thing that we’ve seen. We felt like he would, so he responded. … He’ll be back, he’ll be ready to go, he’ll be better than ever.”

While O’Grady is out, Morris said Grayson Gunter would probably be the first-team tight end, followed closely by Chase Harrell.

Gunter had four receptions for 51 yards and one touchdown as a redshirt sophomore, while Harrell - a second-year graduate transfer from Kansas - is new to the position after grabbing four passes for 60 yards - all against Eastern Illinois - as a wide receiver last season.

“Chase Harrell continues to impress us at the tight end position,” Morris said. “Grayson Gunter’s having a really good camp as well…so those are some guys that are really stepping up.”

The injury could also speed up Hudson Henry’s timeline. The highly touted true freshman is the younger brother of former Arkansas and current Los Angeles Chargers tight end Hunter Henry, but has missed some practice time with a concussion and was running with the fourth-team offense when healthy.

“It was good to have Hudson Henry out there today,” Morris said. “He had been back the last couple days, but he was in full-go today, so that was good to get him back rolling. “

Arkansas previously lost redshirt freshman Noah Gatlin, a second-team right tackle who was expected to push for the starting job, with a torn ACL in a non-contact drill on the first day of practice. He had successful surgery Friday and the hope is for him to be able to return for spring ball.