Sam Pittman reveals the latest on KJ Jefferson's health, availability for LSU game

Sam Pittman is feeling good about Arkansas QB KJ Jefferson being ready for Saturday’s SEC showdown against LSU.

While Jefferson went into the Razorback’s loss to Liberty hurting last weekend, Pittman stated during the SEC Coaches Teleconference that the team’s starting quarterback against the Tigers this weekend is still a “fluid situation.”

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“I still, again, that’s still a few days away. KJ threw some on Monday, not much at all yesterday. I don’t know exactly what he’ll do today, but that’s still kind of a fluid situation,” stated Pittman. “I will say this, Malik Hornsby has had a very good week of practice, the team’s confident in him. So either way whatever happens, whether we play KJ or we play Malik, we feel like we’ll have a guy that can go back there, that the team believes in and can execute our game plan.

“There hasn’t been a whole lot of chance from last week to this week, except that KJ has thrown a little more than he did last week.”

Alas, Pittman’s latest statement corroborates what he said during his press conference on Monday, where he said Jefferson seemed better this week

“I think he feels better this week than he did last week. I expect him to be able to throw today. If that’s the case, then I feel like he’ll be fine by Saturday,” said Pittman.

Moreover, Jefferson has had another great season with over 2,400 total yards and 23 touchdowns overall. However, you could see he was hampered a bit against the Flames. He did complete 62.2% of his passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns. With that said, Jefferson finished with a season-high two picks and a fumble.

On Monday, Pittman went further in depth about Jefferson’s injury when speaking with the media, highlighting that the injury was a clavicle bruising, but that the staff is hoping they can get him back to a good place over the course of practice this week.

“It’s really in the clavicle area…It’s bruised. And it’s hard for him to throw the ball without some type of pain,” Pittman said. “Like I said, he’s much better than he was last week. So, hopefully, we’ll get a good week of practice out of him and go from there.”

Moving forward, Arkansas has a ton of stock in Jefferson in order for them to succeed. With three games to go, they’ll need his best to ensure they earn bowl eligibility.

Sam Pittman is optimistic as of now, though, that Jefferson will be back closer to 100% come their noon kickoff against LSU on Saturday.

On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this article.