BOYD ANNOUNCES his return on

FAYETTEVILLE — Tailback Rakeem Boyd gave University of Arkansas fans positive news regarding his health on Thursday.

Boyd posted “I’m Back” on his Twitter account, referencing he should be ready to play when the Razorbacks host Ole Miss on Saturday.

Boyd appeared to suffer a right ankle injury in the second quarter of Arkansas’ 21-14 win at Mississippi State two weeks ago and did not travel for last week’s game at Auburn.

Boyd’s announcement seemed to surprise Coach Sam Pittman, who spoke by video conference with reporters Thursday afternoon.

“Well, I’ve got to get on Twitter, because he said he’s going to play?” Pittman said. “Oh, that’s awesome. I’m going to get on there and follow him on Twitter.

“We’ll be extremely happy if he’s able to play. Obviously, he’s a really fine running back, and we’d love to have him out there playing.”

Pittman said the Razorbacks did the right thing by holding him out last week because he didn’t know how effective Boyd might have been.

Pittman also said wide receiver Treylon Burks, cornerback Montaric Brown and tight end Hudson Henry, who all missed the Auburn game with injuries, have practiced this week. He expects Burks and Henry to play, and he’s hopeful Brown is cleared to play.

Pittman didn’t comment on defensive end Dorian Gerald, who has missed two games with an ankle injury. Backup linebacker Levi Draper underwent shoulder surgery earlier this week.

“He’s out for some time, quite a while,” Pittman said. “I hate it for him because he worked awful hard and he was doing a good job for us.

“It was a shoulder injury that he had had worked on before. … We knew it was serious, but we didn’t know if it needed surgery until about a day or two before we decided he probably needs to go ahead and get it done.”