By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett will be sidelined for three to four months after breaking a bone in his left foot during the team’s offseason conditioning drills on Wednesday morning.
The injury will place the junior — who contemplated an early jump to the NFL after his redshirt sophomore season with the Razorbacks — on the sidelines for spring practice. Arkansas announced the injury in a press release Wednesday night.
“It is unfortunate since Ryan works extremely hard and has made a commitment to the Razorbacks,” Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said in the press release. “I am confident in our athletic trainers and medical staff and believe they are the best in the country. Ryan is a strong competitor who I know will put all his effort into overcoming his injury and continuing to lead this team.”
Petrino was not available for further comment Wednesday night and no other details regarding the injury were available. But when contacted Wednesday night, Mallett’s mother, Debbie Mallett, said her son was “disappointed” about the injury “but OK.”
“It’s a big deal, but not a big deal,” Debbie Mallett said. “He’s going to be OK. If it had to happen, it was better that it happened now.”
It’s not the first time the quarterback has been injured at Arkansas. Mallett missed the end of spring practice last year after suffering a thumb injury. He also broke a ring finger in a weight room accident last summer, forcing him to miss part of the Razorbacks’ offseason conditioning drills.
Mallett underwent shoulder surgery on his left, non-throwing shoulder in January, too. However, he was expected to be ready for spring practice before suffering the broken foot Wednesday.
Without Mallett, Arkansas will turn to quarterbacks Tyler Wilson, Brandon Mitchell and signee Jacoby Walker when spring practice begins Mach 30.
Mallett announced in January that he was coming back to the program after contemplating a move to the pro ranks. He set or matched 16 different school records during his first season as a starter and finished the year completing 225 of 403 passes for 3,624 yards and 30 touchdowns.
He is the centerpiece of a program hoping to challenge Alabama in the Southeastern Conference Western Division championship chase in 2010.
