Sam Pittman provides update on John Morgan after scary injury vs. Texas A&M

The crowd at AT&T Stadium stood still Saturday afternoon when Arkansas EDGE John Morgan appeared to collapse on the field. It was unclear what exactly the injury was initially, but SEC Network’s Alyssa Lang reported it was a neck issue and Morgan was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

After the game, Arkansas coach Sam Pittman addressed the situation. He said said Morgan had full movement while telling Pittman he was “fine.”

“He had movement everywhere,” Pittman said. “He was — good spirits isn’t the words. But he visited with me, he said, ‘Coach, I’m fine.’ He did have some soreness in his neck, so they took the precautionary, which they should. They’re good at what they do and took care of him. But he had movement everywhere, and he’s at the doctor.”

Le’Veon Moss took a carry for 13 yards on the play and Morgan took some “light contact,” according to the SEC Network broadcast. After taking a couple steps, he collapsed onto the turf. He was conscious, talking and blinking, according to the broadcast, and was left the field on a board.

Lang then provided an update on Morgan later in the quarter and he was dealing with a neck injury, according to Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek. He was taken to the hospital out of abundance of caution and per protocol.

“I was standing in the tunnel and they were slowly loading John Morgan III into an ambulance,” Lang said on the SEC Network broadcast. “They are going to take him to a local hospital. He was talking, he was able to move. I talked to Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek and he was told by the trainers that he was dealing kind of with his neck getting snapped back and he had tenderness and pain in the neck area.

“So precautionary protocol is to bring him to the hospital any time there is any kind of neck pain, but that it is at this point just precautionary because of the nature of where the pain and the injury occurred.”

Morgan is in his first year with Arkansas after transferring from Pitt over the offseason. With the Panthers, he appeared in 12 games and made five starts last season. He totaled 19 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks as a redshirt senior. After the season, he entered the transfer portal and made his way to Arkansas.

Through four games this season entering Saturday’s game against Texas A&M, Morgan totaled four tackles and 2.0 sacks.