FAYETTEVILLE — Chad Morris has been hit with more injuries to his offensive line this August than any other in his coaching career.
Colton Jackson (back), Dalton Wagner (appendix), Deion Malone (knee), Ryan Winkel (pectoral), Jalen Merrick (headaches), Dylan Hays and others have either been sidelined during fall camp or will miss extended time this season.
While not as serious as many of the issues offensive linemen are facing, more than a handful of Razorbacks have dealt with hamstring tightness this preseason, causing a number of them to miss practice and scrimmage time. Early in fall camp, Morris said the staff is being precautionary with players battling nagging hamstrings.
“You find more DBs don’t have more hamstring problems because they do a lot of backpedaling as opposed to wide receivers, who are accelerating and bursting,” Morris said on Aug. 7 explaining why Deon Stewart was limited in practice. “Backpedaling really helps build the hamstring up, and you’re constantly keeping it loose as opposed to sprinting straight ahead as a wide receiver. That’s why you see some guys with a tight hamstring.”
Randy Ramsey, Arkansas’ projected starting right defensive end and one of two defensive players — Andrew Parker — known to have hamstring issues, began experiencing tightness on Aug. 9, according to Morris. Ramsey missed that day’s practice and the Razorbacks’ first major scrimmage of fall camp.
Tuesday was strictly a conditioning and drill work day for Ramsey, who wore a yellow jersey away from live work. Wednesday, Ramsey was not with teammates during the portion of practice available to the media. Morris, though, anticipates having the senior back on the field by Friday at the latest.
In all, Morris has mentioned six players with hamstring tightness since Aug. 7, including Stewart, freshman receiver Mike Woods, Gary Cross and running back Chase Hayden. Rakeem Boyd also donned a green jersey during camp, but his injury was not disclosed by coaches, and La’Michael Pettway dealt with a groin injury early on as well.
Offensive coordinator Joe Craddock said the number of players dealing with hamstring problems on the offensive side of the ball this preseason is a “huge concern.”
“We’re missing a lot of guys out there — some guys we’re counting on,” Craddock said Wednesday. “It just is what it is right now. It’s football, you’re going to have injuries. The next guy has got to be ready to go. The thing I like about it is it allows other guys to have opportunities to show that, ‘Hey, I need to get on the bus, too.’”
Cross, a senior from Fordyce who worked his way into Arkansas’ rotation of receivers in fall camp, was sidelined with a hamstring issue Tuesday, Morris said. Cross was not seen on the field for practice on Wednesday.
Jordan Jones, enjoying a standout preseason, according to Morris and Craddock, said the aching hamstrings are likely a result of growing accustomed to running an uptempo offense.
“It’s a lot more running than we did last year,” Jones said. “We’re going quicker, trying to go faster. The guys just need to recover and get back healthy so they can help us out.”
Arkansas players missing time with hamstring tightness
– Randy Ramsey — announced on Aug. 9, missed 1st scrimmage
– Andrew Parker — occurred Aug. 16, announced on Aug. 21, missed Tuesday’s practice
– Gary Cross — announced on Aug. 21, injured before 2nd scrimmage
– Deon Stewart — announced on Aug. 7, missed 1st scrimmage
– Mike Woods — announced on Aug. 16, missed much of camp Aug. 6-11 and “didn’t have a good 1st scrimmage,” Morris said
– Chase Hayden — announced on Aug. 11, missed 1st scrimmage