UALR hopes to be back at full strength by mid-October

BURN THE HORSE

Did some checking on UALR's offseason injury issues yesterday.

As UALR has started its limited team workouts, several returning players have been out of action. Those who have not participated fully have included: Will Neighbour, Gus Leeper, Ben Dillard, Michael Javes, Taggart Lockhart and Casey Wilmath.

All are at various levels and some are not unexpected. Some are more severe than others. For example, Will Neighbour still has not been fully released after offseason shoulder surgery. He's expected to be released to practice in the second or third week of October. Official practice begins Oct. 12.

The same can be said for the other walking wounded. We know injury situations can change by the day. But if they remain on their current schedules, Javes, Dillard, Leeper and Lockhart will all be cleared to return by the second or third week of October.

That means UALR likely won't be at full strength when practice begins on Oct. 12. But, knock on wood, the Trojans could be at full strength soon after that.

The negative is that UALR Coach Steve Shields is doing a lot of teaching during team workouts, but he hasn't had five returnees available to use as examples. The positive is that the many newcomers are getting a lot of reps in these workouts.

And the bigger positive is that it's only September. These injuries would be devestating in November.

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