Sam Pittman updates status of Warren Thompson, Myles Slusher

Chandler Vesselsby:Chandler Vessels10/03/22

ChandlerVessels

Arkansas will be monitoring the status of receiver Warren Thompson and safety Myles Slusher heading into Saturday against Mississippi State. With both players dealing with injuries, Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman provided an update on their health in his Monday press conference.

“Slusher, I would think he’s a little more beat up,” Pittman said. “A little worse than Warren. I think Warren, we’ll see what he can do at practice today. Slush, I think that’s gonna be a wait-and-see. We’ll probably know more on Wednesday about what his status will be, but that calf’s jacked up a little bit.”

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Slusher, a starting safety, injured his calf in the second quarter last week against Alabama. It was just his second game back from an undisclosed upper-body injury suffered in Week 1 that caused him to miss the next two weeks. In Week 4 against Texas A&M — the only full game he has played this season — Slusher recorded six tackles and one pass defended.

Thompson missed last week’s game against the Crimson Tide due to an unknown injury, but Pittman is hopeful he can return this week. So far this season, he has eight catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns.

The Razorbacks will hope to snap a two-game losing streak when they face No. 23 Mississippi State at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday in Starkville.

Sam Pittman updates injury status of quarterback KJ Jefferson

In addition to Warren Thompson and Myles Slusher, Arkansas will also be awaiting news of the status of quarterback KJ Jefferson.

Pittman had said after his team’s 49-26 loss to Alabama that Jefferson had hit his head, though he shied away from confirming Jefferson is in concussion protocol this week when asked directly.

“I didn’t say that,” Pittman said.

What we know is that Jefferson did not finish the contest against Alabama.

After leaving the game for one play midway through the fourth quarter, Jefferson returned briefly and finished out Arkansas’ final scoring drive.

But he did not appear in either of the two series following the final field goal make of the game for the Razorbacks, which cut the Crimson Tide lead to 42-26. Instead, reserve quarterback Cade Fortin played.

Pittman provided further KJ Jefferson status updates on Monday.

“He had some mild symptoms and those are things that our doctors look at,” Pittman said. “Each kid’s a little bit different of how they react. We’ve had guys back within three or four days, we’ve had guys out for 27 days. He’s kind of a wait and see, to be honest with you.”