Razorbacks' Jones Questionable for MSU

Grace Riley Arkansas could be without running back Felix Jones for Saturday’s game against Mississippi State.

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas could be without running back Felix Jones for Saturday’s game against Mississippi State.

Jones suffered a deep thigh bruise when returning a first-quarter kick in the Razorbacks’ 34-13 loss at Tennessee. He’ll receive treatment and his status will be monitored further throughout the week.

"In his mind, he'll be back," Coach Houston Nutt said.

Without Jones, Arkansas (6-4, 2-4) struggled through one of its worst offensive performances of the season. He tried to play through it, but the more he played, the tighter his right leg became, Nutt said.

What exactly caused the injury is unknown. Nutt said it was not possible to tell if Jones was hit by a helmet or simply landed wrong on the Neyland Stadium turf.

“Talking to him, he felt like he got slammed down to the ground,” Nutt said. “He didn’t think anything about it, but it kept getting tighter and tighter and tighter as the game went on.”

Jones, who has run for 1,032 yards and 11 touchdowns on 114 carries, tried to stretch the injury out with trainers, but couldn’t. He also spent time on an exercise bicycle, but eventually left the field with his leg wrapped. Jones headed for the locker room for good with 2:46 remaining.

Fullback Peyton Hillis missed the final four games of 2006 after suffering a deep thigh bruise against Tennessee. Calcium deposits forming in his thigh complicated Hillis’ injury.

How deep Jones’ bruise is was not clear.

“We’re hoping it’s not that deep,” Nutt said. “Hopefully it’s not that deep. Peyton’s was a deep, deep bruise.”

Should Jones be unavailable, Arkansas would rely on back-ups Michael Smith or Brandon Barnett.

Smith and Barnett have seen limited action this year. Smith has run for 287 yards and 3 touchdowns on 37 carries. Barnett has contributed 136 yards on 24 carries.

Neither provides the threat of Jones, who averages 9.1 Yards per carry. Arkansas relies on using Jones in motion in a variety of offensive packages. Nutt said those packages would have to be scaled back with either Barnett or Smith running in place of Jones, who is also the SEC’s top kick return specialist.

“We probably won’t be ale to do everything,” Nutt said. “We won’t be able to do all the type of formations we can do with Felix. … Felix takes attention away from Darren a little bit. They work so good together. That combination is tough, tough to stop.”