FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas defensive end Deatrich Wise suffered a knee sprain and will miss a week or two of practice, Coach Bret Bielema said Wednesday.
"I don't know if he'll be back this week or next week," Bielema said after the Razorbacks wrapped up a night practice at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. "We hope to get him back the beginning of Auburn week."
The absence of Wise and fellow sophomore Brandon Lewis (knee) thrust JaMichael Winston onto the first unit with senior Trey Flowers and has given redshirt freshman Tevin Beanum and true freshman Anthony Brown more practice time.
"Tevin Beanum has had a really nice couple of days here," Bielema said. "I think JaMichael Winston has been really, really nice and steady improvement. He's a guy who ... since we came back in January, he's just been on this upward climb."
Senior safety Alan Turner developed an eye infection, then scratched it, and missed Wednesday's two-a-day practices because he isn't supposed to get sweat in his eye, Bielema said. With Turner out and Davyon McKinney limited to once-a-day work because of an undisclosed injury, freshman Josh Liddell took some first-team reps.
Tight end AJ Derby (knee bruise) is day-to-day and might be ready to return for Saturday's scrimmage, Bielema said.
Freshman linebacker Randy Ramsey, who had a big opening scrimmage, strained an oblique muscle and tried to practice Wednesday but was pulled out. Bielema projected Ramsey might be ready to return by the weekend.
Tailback Jonathan Williams, who tweaked a hamstring in last Saturday's scrimmage, has been held out so far this week and might come back for the scrimmage.
Tailback Alex Collins, cornerback Tevin Mitchel and receiver Jojo Robinson have come back to practice this week after minor injuries.
Otha heads home
Bret Bielema said departed linebacker Otha Peters was headed back near his home in Covington, La., to resume his football career.
"He was a little frustrated with where he is on the depth chart," Bielema said. "I totally understand that. We talked about where he was sitting, where he can go.
"I offered to try him at fullback. That's something he really didn't want to do, but he did try it on Monday morning. It didn't go the way he wanted it to go. He didn't feel good about it, so he's transferring back to home."
Roster check
Coach Bret Bielema said defensive back Alex Brignoni of Fayetteville, who had back surgery last summer and redshirted before moving to linebacker in the spring, has filed paperwork to take a medical hardship.
"I like the fact he's staying involved with us," Bielema said. "He's working specifically with special teams as a student assistant coach. He's obviously got a lot of really close friends here on the team, and he's a great kid."
Pittman pumped
Offensive line coach Sam Pittman welcomed the competition for playing time created by newcomers Cameron Jefferson, Frank Ragnow, Sebastian Tretola and Brian Wallace, who are working with the second unit but pushing the starters.
"When you come in as an O-line coach, this is where you want to be," Pittman said. "You don't want to say, 'Oh, well, here are our five best and the rest are duds.' I mean, you're not going to be any good if that happens.
"So you want to have, 'OK, we can play this guy and win, or we can play that guy and win.' I don't know if we're there yet, but we're as close as we've ever been. It's exciting."
In the family
Offensive lineman Adam Deacon was awarded with a scholarship Tuesday night by Coach Bret Bielema.
Deacon, a walk-on in 2011, followed in the footsteps of his brother Tyler, a walk-on who also earned a scholarship and became an 11-game starter in 2012.
Adam Deacon spoke to the Razorbacks on Tuesday night about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig's Disease, which his mother Leanne contracted in 2009 and led to her death in 2013.
Bielema announced the scholarship for Deacon after he spoke to the team.
"I honestly didn't see it coming," Deacon said in a UA release. "I had a meeting with Coach and he told me how well I'm doing, but he didn't say anything about a scholarship. Then at the team meeting he brought it up and it honestly brought tears to my eyes."
Deacon, of Little Rock Christian, said his father Dan screamed for about a minute when he was told about the scholarship.
Coming up
The Razorbacks have a single closed practice today and two closed practices Friday leading into its second camp scrimmage at 2:25 p.m. Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
The Saturday scrimmage is scheduled to be open to fans on the eve of fan day, which is from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Walton Arena.
Sports on 08/14/2014