Bowel injury shelves Arkansas' second-leading rusher

Johnson suffered an injury to his bowels during Arkansas' win over Louisiana-Monroe, an injury that was serious enough that it forced the back to undergo surgery shortly after the game ended to repair the damage. Head coach Bobby Petrino said all involved were "very, very concerned" about Johnson's health in the immediate aftermath of the injury and subsequent surgery, but said everyone has been encouraged by the progress Johnson has made since.

"We're not even thinking about timetables for his return right now," Petrino said. "We're just thinking about his health. Hopefully he'll improve. He's doing well. He was up walking, they've got him up walking. He's very, very sore from the surgery. We're encouraged by everything the doctors are telling us on how he's doing health wise."

"I haven't asked him how he thought it happened," Petrino said. "But when he came off the field, our strength and conditioning coach, (Jason) Veltkamp said he talked about falling on the ball and landing on the ball. Initially thought it was a rib injury. But that was not the case. When we were out on the field, in the locker room, toward the end of the game, he started throwing up and then they knew it wasn't a rib injury and got him to the hospital."

Johnson is the Razorbacks' second-leading rusher this season with 83 yds on 9 carries.

Johnson's absence may be most felt on special teams, however, as he's far and away the team's leading kick returner. He's the school's all-time leader in kickoff return yardage with 2,014 and has returned 2 for touchdowns.