FAYETTEVILLE — For the first time since the first week of April, Jared Cornelius walked into the media room on the bottom floor of the Fred W. Smith Center on Wednesday to talk to the press.
The Arkansas senior receiver had a grin on his face.
“It’s been a while, but I feel good,” he said. “Glad to see ya’ll again.”
Cornelius went on to proclaim he is fully healthy, recovered from the nagging back issues that caused him to miss fall camp and led to the coaching staff taking a cautious approach with him in the season-opening 49-7 win over Florida A&M.
“One-hundred percent,” Cornelius said.
That’s big news for the Razorbacks heading into their Saturday afternoon matchup with No. 23 TCU. Cornelius is the lone receiver target for Austin Allen with substantial game experience, an All-SEC candidate who has big games against big opponents, like the 126-yard, one-touchdown performance last year against Texas A&M or the 146-yard outburst against Alabama.
“I’m expecting him to come out and have a big game,” receivers coach Michael Smith said. “My big thing is to keep him healthy. Everybody knows what he's coming back from, and we want to keep him healthy so he can go out there and do what he's capable of doing.”
Cornelius dealt with a similar back injury last season when he sat out the blowout win against Texas State in September. He missed a week and responded by topping the 100-yard mark his next three games.
He was essentially isolated from the team during fall camp because he was removed from the 105-man roster to make room for a healthy player.
“Camp sucked,” Cornelius said. “I kind of lived in the training room for those weeks. Not being in the 105, you can’t be in meetings and stuff like that. I kind of felt like a loner.”
Cornelius didn’t start fully going through practice until late August. It wasn’t a five-month layoff like his media room absence, but his teammates were happy to have his veteran presence back on the field.
“Our first time getting back in the huddle together, Frank (Ragnow) kind of dapped me up and Austin said it’s nice to have you back,” Cornelius said. “(He and Allen) just have that kind of relationship. Our lockers are right next to each other. He’s been talking to me the whole offseason how he needed me back and wanted me back and is glad (I’m) back.”
Cornelius caught a short pass for a 6-yard gain in his brief appearance Thursday against FAMU. The limited snaps were by design.
“We were just trying to get my feet wet, get back into the game groove,” Cornelius said. “… I think I was scripted for six or eight plays and I think I got like seven, so perfect. I felt good. Felt great to be back out there and moving around.”
He caught 2 passes for 17 yards against TCU last year, a modest contribution as part of a deep, veteran receiving corps which featured different standout contributors on an almost weekly basis. This go around, the Razorbacks will be counting on a healthy Cornelius to be a go-to playmaker for Allen.
“Feeling great, feeling 100 percent,” Cornelius said.
“Feeling dangerous,” Ragnow opined from across the room.
“Feeling dangerous,” Cornelius agreed.