Petrino Expects Adams To Play Saturday

FAYETTEVILLE — After waiting impatiently over the past three weeks, it appears Arkansas wide receiver Joe Adams will soon make his return to the lineup.

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said Thursday that Adams will likely get limited playing time in Saturday’s 6 p.m. game against Eastern Michigan in Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

Doctors have cleared the sophomore to play, though he’s not expected to get much work this weekend after missing the past three games because of what was described as a “mild stroke.”

“I think he’ll play in the game. Unless something changes in pregame, he’ll have the ability to play,” Petrino said following Thursday’s practice. “It would be on a limited number of reps simply because he hasn’t had the same conditioning as everybody else in the last three or four (or) five weeks.”

Petrino estimated that Adams would likely play 20-40 snaps against Eastern Michigan, depending on the tempo of the game. But the limited amount of work would be considered a major step for the wide receiver, who has been forced to watch the Razorbacks lose back-to-back games without him.

“We’re excited about that,” Petrino said of Adams’ likely return. “Obviously, that’s a nice addition to our playmakers.”

Adams ranks third on the Razorbacks with 16 catches for 316 yards and two touchdowns. He has practiced for the past week, and he was finally cleared to play after meeting with doctors in Little Rock on Wednesday morning.

“They said that they thoroughly believe that they know what the cause was and that they dealt with the issue and that he’s cleared for full participation,” Petrino said, though he declined to give specifics about the cause of Adams’ medical issue.

Still, Petrino said he wanted to see how Adams looked in practice this week before allowing him to return to the lineup. But after the receiver took part in Thursday’s practice, Petrino declared Adams to be “100 percent healthy.”

“His legs look fresh,” Petrino said, “and he looks real fast out there, to be honest with.”