Exercise in caution
Hogs RB Williams suffers ‘stinger,’ is carted off field in spring finale.
FAYETTEVILLE — A hush settled over Walker Pavilion early in Saturday’s spring practice finale for the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Tailback Rawleigh Williams, the Razorbacks’ 1,360yard rusher in 2016, was down on the field after spinning to the turf during a non-tackling run drill.
Sophomore defensive end McTelvin Agim and Williams made light contact as Williams fell to the ground, and Agim later said he heard Williams say: “I can’t move.”
Medical personnel rushed to Williams’ side, and he stayed down, bringing back memories of the time Williams went down at Reynolds Razorback Stadium against Auburn in 2015.
Williams lost feeling in his extremities after a hit that day, and he was carted off the field and needed surgery to repair a disc high in his neck that had come close to severing his spinal cord.
He recovered well enough to return to action last season.
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville officials said Saturday that Williams suffered a “stinger,” and that because of his injury history he was taken to an area hospital as a precaution.
“I was shook,” Coach Bret Bielema said. “I was really shook. You guys know the first time that happened.
“Nothing prepares you. When I drive in, I always say, ‘What’s going to happen today that I have no idea is going to happen?’ Well, that one right there. That was it.”
Arkansas’ final spring practice was televised by the SEC Network, even after the Hogs’ scheduled Red-White game was moved indoors from Reynolds Razorback Stadium because of expected storms.
Williams’ family members, led by his mother, Kim, were emotional when they arrived on the field and watched the medical team do its work.
First, Williams’ jersey was cut off, then he was strapped to a stretcher and carted off the field.
Williams was moving his hands and feet within moments of landing and apparently wanted to hop up.
“He kept saying, ‘This is embarrassing,’ because he wanted to walk and they wouldn’t let him walk because they were just being overly cautious,” Bielema said.
Bielema added that the discussion over whether Williams will return to football, as he did after his neck surgery in October 2015, would come down the line.
“All we want is ... I love Rawleigh Williams walking and talking and doing everything else,” Bielema said. “We’ll evaluate what the medical people tell us and then we’ll have a conversation together and only do what’s right for Rawleigh.”
The players involved in the inside-run drill immediately went to a knee on one end of the field.
“I was in my gap, and he came over the top. It was like we thudded up, and he was ready to spin and he just like fell,” Agim said. “So that’s what I saw from my perspective.
“Rawleigh’s my dude. I most definitely would not want to hurt him, so when I saw him it hurt me a little. It took me a while to get back into the groove.”
A few minutes later, Bielema asked offensive coordinator Dan Enos to huddle at midfield with the full team, and the players bowed their heads in prayer.
“Man, it was just a scary moment,” sophomore tailback Devwah Whaley said. “It happened so quick. When it happened, everybody got quiet. It hit everyone at the same time. All we can do is pray for him. He’ll be fine,
though. He’ll be OK.”
Quarterback Austin Allen was at the other end of the field throwing one-on-one routes at the time of the injury.
“We saw the other guys down, then they said it was Rawleigh, so of course that takes you back because you just remember the Auburn game,” Allen said. “I guess everything’s all right, so that makes you feel a little better.
“It just kind of took the wind out of you, especially right before practicing. It’s just something you don’t ever want to happen to anyone, but especially Rawleigh because it’s his second time.”
Bielema said he didn’t consider holding Williams out of full tackling this spring because he missed team periods last spring and needed to make improvements at reading cuts in full-speed work.
Williams, asked Tuesday about his workload in the spring, said, “I mean, it is what it is. I love getting the ball. That’s what I came here to do.
“I think I’ve had a pretty good spring so far. I think I’ve made the most of my opportunities up to this point and I just have to continue to finish strong.”
The Razorbacks regrouped after Williams’ departure and conducted a lively 24-period scrimmage that had no live tackling but heavy doses of team periods.
“Through 15 practices, couldn’t be happier with
the attitude, the energy, the coach-ability,” Bielema said. “I’m very, very excited about the things we put in on the offensive side of the ball and the progress we’ve made.”
Allen threw a 20-yard touchdown over the middle to La’Michael Pettway and a 9-yard bootleg touchdown to Cheyenne O’Grady during red zone work. He also connected on a 43-yard pass to Jordan Jones down the deep middle earlier in the scrimmage.
The first unit on defense, working against the second-team offense, dominated, even while not using much blitzing.
Agim notched three “vicinity” sacks and a tackle for a loss, and linebacker Randy Ramsey added two sacks. Cornerback Ryan Pulley intercepted a Cole Kelley pass in the right flat and returned it for a would-be touchdown.
“It was a quick pass to the flat, and I just read my keys and picked it off, made a good play,” Pulley said.
Linebacker De’Jon Harris snagged a tipped pass by safety Reid Miller for another interception.
“I just wanted to put some good stuff on film. … I feel like this will give me a lot of momentum going into fall camp,” Harris said.
“Defensively, just overall, I thought our guys communicated, anticipated, made breaks on balls, and up front we were getting penetration,” Bielema said.
“All we want is ... I love Rawleigh Williams walking and talking and doing everything else.” Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema