FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas could have its leader in rushing touchdowns from a season ago back in the fold as soon as this weekend.
Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman on Wednesday spoke optimistically about the progress of running back Dominique Johnson, who injured his knee in the Outback Bowl victory over Penn State in January and had an offseason operation to repair it.
His status for Saturday’s 11 a.m. kickoff against South Carolina remains up in the air, but he is inching closer to seeing the field.
“I thought he looked good,” Pittman said when asked to assess Johnson’s work on Tuesday. “I think he certainly has improved over the last week and a half.”
Tuesday’s practice was a noteworthy one for Johnson as he did not wear a green no-contact jersey for the first time since joining the team for workouts on Aug. 22.
Pittman noted during his Monday press conferences the last two weeks that Johnson’s workload would increase. He added Wednesday that Johnson “looked to me like he’s ready to go, but we’ll have to kind of see how he feels about it before we decide” if he plays.
Johnson was a somewhat-unexpected star in the Razorbacks’ running game last season. He finished with 7 rushing touchdowns and averaged 5.9 yards per carry on 97 touches.
Johnson, too, caught 7 passes for 71 yards and 1 touchdown, which came in Arkansas’ overtime victory at LSU.
“I think we still have two pretty good days that he can build some confidence and see if he’s ready to play or not,” Pittman said.
“To be honest with you, right now, it’s kind of up to him.”
Razorbacks quarterback KJ Jefferson said last week that Johnson has grown in his role as a leader while working to get back in the mix at tailback.
"All the guys look to him as a leader," Jefferson added. "He comes in, he's attacked his training, his rehab. He's attacked it. He's been on the sideline coaching guys up as far as protection-wise and what he sees.
"Being able to have a guy like Dominique, even when he's not out there, his presence is still felt."
Running backs coach Jimmy Smith told reporters in the preseason that he gave Johnson daily responsibilities to aide leadership and keep his mind sharp. Among them was letting Smith know when all players at the position were in the building and ready to take the practice field.
Inside the meeting room, Johnson, at times, would practice relaying signals that typically come in from the sideline.
"It’s really important," Smith said. "When he comes back, you want him to be back. You don’t want him to come back and have to teach him everything and restart. That ain’t what you want.
"You want him to come back and be back, especially when he gets there physically."