The Arkansas Razorbacks (2-2, 0-1 SEC) might be able to have star running back Rocket Sanders return for Saturday's game against Texas A&M at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman gave the latest update Wednesday on the status of Sanders' knee injury that he suffered in Week 1 against Western Carolina.
"I’m as confident as I’ve been since the Western Carolina game," Pittman said of Sanders' chances to play against Texas A&M. "I would be lying to you if I told you that I’m sure he’s going to play. I feel better about his opportunity to play, but we still have to see how he recovers from yesterday’s limited reps that he participated in and go from there.
"But this week I thought he was further ahead on Monday than I thought he would be. It didn’t swell up too bad on him yesterday. We’ll give him a little less reps today and then see where he’s at on Thursday. We’re obviously hoping he can play."
Sanders participated in practice on Sept. 18 for the first time since prior to that Week 1 win over Western Carolina. He was slowly worked back in and he was able to run with the first team offense during the fastball starts period of Tuesday's practice.
The initial timeframe given by Pittman on Sept. 6 was "a couple of weeks," which projected Sanders back around the timeframe of the Texas A&M game. No official title has been given for the injury, but Pittman has described it as swelling on Sanders' left knee.
Sanders carried the ball 12 times for 42 yards and two touchdowns in the season-opening 56-13 win over the Catamounts. The yards per carry average of 2.9 was tough and Sanders also caught two passes for negative four yards.
Pittman mentioned after that game that the injury did occur during the game against Western Carolina at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Arkansas' running back room is as talented as any in the country, so the Hogs have made it without Sanders. But getting back a preseason First Team All-SEC running back who rushed for nearly 1,500 yards and 10 touchdowns last year would be huge.
In the absence of Sanders, AJ Green and Rashod Dubinion have carried the bulk of the load. Green leads the team with 31 carries for 190 rushing yards and two scores, and he also has a team-best 6.1 yards per carry as a junior. Dubinion has ran 41 times for 174 yards and one score as a sophomore.
According to Pittman, Sanders has been a stand-up teammate during his time dealing with the knee injury.
"The great thing about Rocket is he’s a much better person than he is even a football player," Pittman said. "Very mature. Wants to play. Wants to be back. Wants to help his team, but he’s handled it professionally. If he can play, if he feels like he can play, we certainly will.
"He’s one of those guys, you just ask him. Hey, are you ready to go? If he says yes, then we’re going to play him. If he says no I don’t quite feel that way, then obviously we won’t, but he’s handled it professionally and really been a big part of practice even when he wasn’t able to participate as much as we’d like for him to."
Last year, Sanders was relatively shut down by the Aggies on Sept. 24, 2022. He rushed 17 times for 68 yards with no touchdowns in a 23-21 loss for the Razorbacks.
Arkansas and Texas A&M will face off at 11 a.m. CT at AT&T Stadium on Saturday. The game will be broadcast nationally on the SEC Network.
