Sam Pittman on KJ Jefferson: 'He's gonna do what he wants to do, to be honest with you'

Sam Pittman has one of the best rushing threats in the nation from the quarterback spot in KJ Jefferson. He rushed for 664 yards last season with his legs becoming an important part of the Arkansas offense. Even so, people always ask the question of how much is too much with a player like Jefferson.

Pittman discussed what the the line was between letting his star QB run and protecting him from injury during media on Monday. He says that, frankly, Jefferson is going to play how he wants regardless of what he or the staff tells him.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

“It’s hard to coach that out of a kid…In practice, he can veer around and do all this stuff but you can tell him, ‘We’ve got to have you healthy’ and this, that and the other and he’s gonna do whatever he wants to do, to be honest with you,” said Pittman. “I think it just depends on the moment in the game. If he thinks that he needs to set the tone, he’s gonna go do it whatever we tell him to be honest with you.”

People have compared Jefferson’s game to former Auburn QB Cam Newton. Both had big arms but were also able to use their size and legs to be tanks when rushing the ball. Jefferson is more than capable of lowering his shoulder and taking a hit from the defense. However, Pittman says he would be prefer he didn’t have to. It’s a thin line but he says all he can do is let Jefferson play his game.

“He’s a big guy, he can handle physical tackles and things of that nature. We’re gonna run him and we’re not gonna change our offense from what we did before,” said Pittman. “I would like him to get on the ground a little bit more, get out of bounds some. He says all the right things but then Saturday comes and he runs over somebody. I’m not going to coach him out of being aggressive but I am going to ask him to take care of himself.”

Jefferson is the focal point of Sam Pittman’s team. If anything happens to him, the trajectory of Arkansas’ season would change drastically. In the end, though, all Pittman can do is hope disaster doesn’t strike. One of Jefferson’s greatest strengths is also what puts him at the most risk. It’s now about rolling the dice the least amount of times possible in order to still make the Razorbacks successful.