Arkansas’ offense is already having to deal with the spring absence of Rakeem Boyd and now the Razorback defense has been dealt a blow as Chad Morris announced on Tuesday that the team’s leading returning tackler is out for the remainder of spring practice.

Senior linebacker De’Jon Harris, who goes by the nickname “Scoota” on campus, not only led the Razorbacks in tackles in 2018, he did so in 2017, as well. In his three seasons in Fayetteville, Harris has racked up 270 combined tackles, with 233 of those coming in the previous two seasons for the Razorbacks.

During his latest media availability, Morris opened up on the latest regarding Harris’ status.

“Scoota Harris will be out for the remainder of spring. He had surgery on his foot. That will occur on Friday, I believe, and we expect him back by sometime in May,” Morris revealed. “He will definitely be involved and be a student coach out there, a player-coach, I should say.”

On the bright side, Harris is so experienced you could argue the team doesn’t really need to see what he brings to the table this spring as he enters his final fall on campus. The reps that would have gone to Harris this spring can now go to a less experienced player who can be developed into a contributor by the time the fall season rolls around.

Morris offered up this comment when asked to share a follow-up on Harris’ status.

“I think it was something that was nagging him during the season. So, we thought we had it, rehabbed it, thought we had it and it just kept bothering him. So we just had it looked at. We don’t want this to carry on,” Morris said. “We know what he’s capable of doing, he’s going to be just fine.”

Who knows, based on what Morris offered up when indicating his senior linebacker would be a player-coach this spring, this could be the start of a long coaching career for Harris.

Chad Morris announces De’Jon Harris, Arkansas’ leading returning tackler, out for spring