Dominique Johnson’s time at Arkansas has been full of intrigue. The latest chapter in the Hogs running back’s saga came Monday.
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman announced at his weekly Monday press conference that Johnson would miss the season because of a torn ACL. Johnson had previously injured the knee at the end of last year and had spent the entire spring and early parts of fall rehabilitating it.
Johnson had five carries against Texas A&M in Week 4 for 32 yards, but only three carries since. Pittman said the junior re-injured the knee during a non-contact drill during last week’s practices.
“e made a cut on air and tore his ACL again,” Pittman said. “So, it’s really unfortunate for the team, certainly for him. He actually practiced the next day, and then he did not practice on Thursday and we found out Thursday.”
Johnson was the team’s starter at running back last year over the last third of the season and was expected to be No. 1 this year had he not been injured. The Razorbacks have not fallen in the running game in his stead as Rocket Sanders became the first Arkansas player Madre Hill to gain 1,000 yards in eight games.
The good news, Pittman said, is Johnson can use the season to redshirt, rehab in the winter and should be good to go for spring practice next year.
“We’ve kind of approached it that way,” Pittman said. “By the time he got healthy, he would be ready for fall camp, which we certainly found that it didn’t help him this year missing fall camp. So, we’re going with all the positives out of certainly a negative situation.”
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