Heading into fall camp, Arkansas was already razor-thin numbers-wise on the offensive line but with the recent season-ending surgery to Deion Malone, the Razorbacks are limited to nine active scholarship offensive lineman at practice.

“Deion Malone is out. He’ll be out the rest of the year. Had a season-ending surgery last night on his knee. It’s unfortunate in an area where we were already struggling a little bit with some depth issues,” Chad Morris said Tuesday, “It was in practice. It was in a pass rushing drill. It wasn’t the knee that he’s had problems with in the past. As far as eligibility, that’s something we’ll look into as we go. Right now, our goal with him is getting him back.”



A former defensive lineman, Malone had been moved to the offensive side of the football to provide depth this offseason.



Without any injuries, Arkansas has only 14 scholarship lineman on its roster. Left tackle Colton Jackson’s back surgery and Malone’s injured knee decrease that number even further, but those aren’t the only two injuries the Hogs are dealing with on the offensive front.



Freshman tackle Ryan Winkel suffered a pectoral injury in his very first summer workout as a Razorback, forcing him to wear a green jersey and ride the bike at practice. The timetable for his return has yet to be determined.



Two more Razorback linemen have been either missing or limited in practice lately as well. Dylan Hays, the slated starting center, has donned the green jersey the past two practices after participating the first two days. Hays played it off as nothing serious when asked about his situation on Monday.



On Tuesday, head coach Chad Morris called Hays “day-to-day” with a back strain, appearing unconcerned about the status of his interior blocker.



In his absence, redshirt freshman Shane Clenin has take over at first-team center, followed by Ty Clary and Audry Horn. Morris wants more consistency from his centers who are getting used to snapping the ball in shotgun 100 percent of the time.



“We try to put them in a wet ball situation quite a bit to see how that works. You know, we’ve been inconsistent in snapping the ball. We’ve been good, we just haven’t had the consistency where we want it. Some are here, some are here, some are low,” Morris said. “Those are things we’re working on. When you’re rotating guys around, you’re expecting that. That’s not a big concern of mine right now.”



Jalen Merrick, a former heralded recruit that has yet to make a mark in Fayetteville, has been a mystery and topic of inquiry through four days of fall camp. Many believed Merrick would push for playing time or at least provide depth at the guard spot, but he’s been missing at practice after riding the bike last Friday. Morris cleared up the confusion on Tuesday by revealing Merrick’s status to the media.



“Jalen was experiencing some headaches through the course of the summer. So we’re just kind of doing some precautionary things, getting things checked out with him,” Morris said. “We’re rolling a lot of guys in and out and moving guys around.”



Without Jackson, Malone, Winkel, Hays and Merrick, Morris and offensive line coach Dustin Fry have only nine scholarship lineman to work with in practice. For those counting at home, that’s not even enough for a full two-deep.



“It’s just part of football you go through. Outside of the ones we’ve already mentioned that were major injuries, I think you deal with some bumps and bruises and nicks along the way and you try and adjust your practice with these guys. Fortunately, we’ll be getting them back,” Morris said.



Arkansas’ starting offensive line remained unchanged Tuesday, featuring freshman Dalton Wagner at left tackle, Hjalte Froholdt at left guard, Shane Clenin at center in Hays’ absence, Johnny Gibson Jr.. at right guard and Brian Wallace at right tackle. It’s likely that guys like freshmen Noah Gatlin and Silas Robinson, Ty Clary and Kirby Adcock could be called upon in live action this season.



Getting Hays back to full strength along with Merrick and eventually Winkel and Jackson will go a long way to solidifying the offensive line, but at the moment, concerns abound.



“That’s why they call it coaching. We’ll continue to bring guys along. We had a few of the guys out with a little bit of nicks and nagging injuries. Nothing major to report,” Morris said. “I’m excited about starting full pads tomorrow. I think that’s going to be huge for us. We’ll do a little good on good and two on two we call Razorback drill. We’re excited about that.”



COMPLETE ARKANSAS INJURY REPORT:



DT Austin Capps - Yellow Jersey

WR Deon Stewart (hamstring) - Yellow Jersey

LT Colton Jackson (back) - Yellow Jersey - Out at least 6 games

DT Briston Guidry - Yellow Jersey

OL Ryan Winkel (pectoral) - Green Jersey

OL Dylan Hays (back strain) - Green Jersey - Day to day

OL Jalen Merrick (headaches) - Absent

OL Deion Malone (knee) - Out for season

DB Kevin Richardson (foot) - Out for at least 2 games

Green Jersey = Some on-field work with no contact



Yellow Jersey = No on-field work whatsoever