Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Jefferson’s leadership ‘big for us’
FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas football Coach Sam Pittman said he’s encouraged by the level of participation of quarterback KJ Jefferson and right tackle Dalton Wagner in practice this week leading into Saturday night’s game against No. 14 Ole Miss.
Asked Wednesday specifically about the health of Jefferson, who has been dealing with a right shoulder injury, Pittman said, “He’s practiced most every play this week, so I feel good about him. Dalton Wagner also has practiced a lot this week.
“So we’re probably about as healthy as we’ve been for a long, long time and certainly there’s some soreness in [Jefferson and Wagner], but that’s going to happen in Game No. 11 in our league. So I feel pretty good about all those guys.”
Both Jefferson and Wagner sat out last week’s 13-10 loss to LSU. Wagner had a back issue flare up, but he did media interviews Tuesday and pronounced himself “100% back.”
Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffin said he’s expecting to see Jefferson, who racked up 411 total yards and six touchdowns in a 52-51 road loss to the Rebels last season, just down the road from his hometown of
Sardis, Miss.
“I mean he’s obviously a problem because he’s so physical when he runs the ball,” Kiffin said. “He can make you miss, he can run you over. You know we had a major issue with him, especially later in the game as they’re moving the ball and making first downs. That system tires you out.”
Pittman said Jefferson’s leadership on the sidelines last week increased his esteem among players and coaches.
“It’s a huge deal because KJ is one of those leaders that leads the entire team, not just the offense,” Pittman said. “It’s big for us. We challenged him whenever we figured out that he wasn’t going to be able to play.
“Feleipe Franks did the same thing for him two years ago in [Jefferson’s] first start when we went to Missouri, and Feleipe was very encouraging and seeing things and talking to him on the sideline during that entire game. … I thought he was well into the game, focused, just unfortunately he wasn’t healthy enough to play.”