Rocket Sanders to miss time with knee swelling

The Arkansas Razorbacks are no strangers to seeing their key players injured, no matter the sport. In the last year alone, major injuries to Jalen Catalon in football, Trevon Brazile in basketball, and a handful of pitchers in baseball have left significant deficits to their respective squads. 

Raheim “Rocket” Sanders will be the latest to miss time due to injury. Head Coach Sam Pittman told media during a press talk that there “was a little bit of swelling on Sunday. He didn’t say anything about it until Sunday when the swelling came up.” This explains why many watching the game might’ve missed an injury to someone like Sanders. 

Rocket Sanders will be OUT on Saturday, per Sam Pittman’s radio show.

Pittman says the plan is for him to rest for a couple weeks due to a left leg injury. pic.twitter.com/sJbjWcpSCK

— Will Whitson (@will_whitson2) September 7, 2023

While the extent of the injury remains unclear, there’s no reason to believe it will cause the preseason all-american to miss significant time, according to Sam Pittman. “I don’t think it’ll be a lengthy injury,” Pittman stated. Beyond that, things remain fairly vague until the staff knows more. According to Coach Pittman, “He got looked at yesterday. He’s getting looked at today. We’re not positive where that will go at this point.”

Here is Sam Pittman commenting on the injury earlier today: 

Here's the latest update from Sam Pittman on Rocket Sanders: pic.twitter.com/jMLxkzVIjm

— Tyler Cass (@TVTylerCass) September 6, 2023

For the time being, Rocket will miss at least one week, when the team faces Kent State University in Fayetteville. It seems the team will take advantage of a couple out-of-conference matchups, with the latter being against the BYU Cougars, to allow Sanders to rest and return to prime form for a battle against the reigning SEC west champions, the LSU Tigers. 

Who’s up next? 

With Rocket out, the Razorbacks’ backfield is still in good hands. The brunt of the carries look like they will be given to AJ Green and Rashod Dubinion, with Dominique Johnson and true freshman Isaiah Augastave. 

The last time we saw the Hogs backfield run without Rocket was in the Liberty Bowl, in a 53-55 three-overtime shootout with the Kansas Jayhawks. Following Sanders’ injury in that game, Dubinion received the most handoffs with 20, followed by AJ Green with 13.* They made the most of their opportunities, totaling 211 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. 

It is expected that some of those opportunities will also be given to KJ Jefferson, another capable rusher, even as a quarterback. In that same bowl game, Jefferson pitched in 130 rushing yards on 14 carries, while adding 2 scores of his own. 

While we wait for the news on Rocket Sanders, this Arkansas backfield will get plenty of looks, and they should make the most of it. 

*It is worth noting that Dominique Johnson was still dealing with an injury and Isaiah Augustave had not joined the team yet.