Antonio Grier expected to be available in Week 2, per Sam Pittman

Arkansas got good news about the health of linebacker Antonio Grier heading into a Week 2 home game against Kent State. Head coach Sam Pittman said he expects Grier to be a full go for Week 2.

Grier had missed the season opener against Western Carolina on Saturday. However, he was already back to the practice field prior to the contest, giving Pittman optimism heading into this week.

“Yes. I mean he’s practiced. He practiced partially, you know? Indy and things of that before the Western Carolina game. But he’s practiced all week. So they’ve cleared him to do everything and he’s been good over the last two days. And he’s practicing today. So I expect him to be available,” Pittman said.

Pittman had originally hoped Grier could see the field in Week 1, but it wasn’t to be.

Grier transferred to Arkansas during the offseason after playing at USF for most of five seasons — he redshirted in 2022 after three games due to an injury.

Pittman is unsure about Rocket Sanders status for Saturday

Pittman isn’t certain about the status of star running back Raheim “Rocket” Sanders for the next few weeks, he said on Wednesday on the SEC coaches teleconference. Sanders has been dealing with swelling in his knee since Sunday, Pittman said.

The injury likely occurred in Arkansas’ season-opening win over Western Carolina, Pittman said, but Sanders didn’t say anything bothered him until Sunday when the swelling occurred. His workload in the opener, 15 carries and a pair of receptions for 38 total yards and a pair of touchdowns, wasn’t particularly out of the ordinary.

“I don’t think it played any impact on him. I do believe that yes, that it happened during the game. Was a little bit of swelling on Sunday. Obviously didn’t say anything about it until Sunday when the swelling came up. But, it could’ve impacted him. But with him not saying anything until Sunday, I would assume that it didn’t and again, I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen with him at this moment. I think I’ll know more this afternoon,” Pittman said.

As of Wednesday, Pittman isn’t certain Sanders will be available for Week 2 or Week 3. Arkansas hosts Kent State and then BYU in the next two contests.

“Rocket, we still — he’s got a little bit of swelling on his knee so we’re waiting to see exactly what that is. He’s getting looked at. He got looked at yesterday. Getting looked at today and we’re not positive where that will go at this point. I think I’ll know a little bit more maybe even by our two o’clock meeting this afternoon. But R-Dub is healthy, ready to go. Rocket, we’re still waiting to find out exactly where he’ll be for this week or even the next week,” Pittman said.