Jordan Jones was once considered one of, if not the, fastest player on the Arkansas football roster.
That was a long time ago.
Now 24 years old and at his third school, Jones, an Arkansas graduate, will come back to the place where his college career started on Saturday. Incidentally, alongside his coach, Bobby Petrino, who helped the Hogs to heights they haven’t seen since.
Jones is in his first year at Missouri State after spending the last two seasons at Cincinnati, a team the Hogs beat in Week 1. Jones started and caught two passes for the Bears in their Week 1 game before being placed on concussion protocol after suffering an injury in practice last week. Petrino expects Jones to play – again – inside Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Bobby Petrino believes WR Jordan Jones will be cleared to play this week @ Arkansas. He had a weird fall in practice last week and was in concussion protocol.
— Wyatt Wheeler (@WyattWheeler_NL) September 12, 2022
Jones caught 38 passes for 592 yards and four touchdowns during his three on-field seasons with the Razorbacks. He was the No. 4 player in the state coming out of a powerhouse Smackover program and his 21 grabs with three touchdowns his freshman season suggested a promising future and his 17 grabs the next year were fair, too.
But an ankle injury that was supposed to keep him out for a month in 2019 turned into a lost season. Jones never played for the Razorbacks again, though he did stick around to graduate in 2020.
His career took him to the Bearcats, the team with which he caught 17 more passes before leaving as a graduate transfer back closer to home. Now, with the Bears ranked No. 6 in FCS and Jones in his final go-around, he’s hoping to relive those early days inside his home state’s flagship school’s home stadium.
Even if it’s for the other team.
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