When Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green suffered a lower-body shot early in the fourth quarter of the Razorbacks’ 19-14 upset win over fourth-ranked Tennessee last October, the thought of Green being done for the remainder of the season understandably entered the minds of many inside Reynolds Razorback Stadium and watching around the nation.
Volunteers defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott was called for a roughing the passer penalty after he dove for Green’s knees as Green released what ended up being a 30-yard completion to Andrew Armstrong on first down.
After Green was tended to he returned for one play on Arkansas’ following drive, but Malachi Singleton ultimately finished the game at quarterback and helped the Hogs seal their first home victory over a Top 5 opponent since 1999 – when Arkansas earned redemption with a triumph over the No. 3-ranked Vols – with an 11-yard, go-ahead score with just over a minute remaining in the game.
The diagnosis on Green was a mild MCL injury that head coach Sam Pittman also referred to as “more of a bone bruise.”
Green ended up playing the final seven games, including putting on an MVP performance in the Liberty Bowl win over Texas Tech. However, as we found out prior to 2025 fall camp, Green did not do so at 100%.
Taylen Green was not at full strength in back half of 2024 season
Green detailed his experience of playing through pain when he spoke to the media following Arkansas’ first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday, but it was first confirmed a day before fall camp began by strength and conditioning coach Ben Sowders.
“One thing I want to tell y’all, y’all don’t understand how bad Taylen was hurt last year,” Sowders said. “I mean, what he dealt with the last seven games of our season, in the bowl game, a lot of people wouldn’t even play. I’ll just keep it like that, I’m not gonna let his info out. But long story short, he’s a tough kid.”
An idle week following the Tennessee win gave Green extra time to rest, but the pain was far from behind him.
“I ain’t going to lie, it was pretty difficult,” Green said on Saturday. “It was hard not just physically, you know mentally. I wanted to break some runs, and I knew if I was healthy I could do it. But at the same time, it made me stay in the pocket a little bit more and use my arm a little bit, and that’s what I love about last year and about spring and fall.”
Additionally, Green also dealt with a nagging knee injury in the 63-31 loss to Ole Miss on Nov. 2 and Singleton ended up playing in Green’s place for the entire second half as the Rebels owned a commanding 35-10 lead coming out of halftime.
Despite the condition he was in, Green still put together a solid seven games in that span as he completed 123 of his 192 passes (64%) for 1,652 yards and 10 touchdowns to four interceptions. For the season, the 6-foot-6 Lewisville, Texas, native completed 60.4% of his passes for 3,154 yards and 15 touchdowns while throwing nine picks. He finished with an overall offensive grade of 86.6 per Pro Football Focus (79.2 pass, 81.2 run), ranking him 28th out of 306 signal callers in FBS football.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman praised the way Green commanded the offense in Saturday’s 140-play scrimmage while playing a hand in multiple scoring drives.
“Taylen threw 5 or 6 touchdowns,” Pittman recalled Saturday while looking down at a pocket-sized notepad. “He threw the ball really well, accurate, ran the offense, controlled like a second-year guy probably – that’s ready to go – should.”
One of the most popular topics throughout the first nine days of fall camp was the go-pro-like virtual reality camera on the front of Green’s helmet that helps further break down plays and essentially provides the opportunity to be in practice or game-like scenarios no matter where you are. Green got the idea from 2023 Heisman Trophy winner and current Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.
“I was talking to Jayden Daniels, and everybody knows that he was doing the VR thing,” Green said. “He said it was really big, it helped, an advantage mentally. I talked to Coach Petrino and Coach Pittman, and I’m grateful for them to allowing me to — not just me, but the whole quarterback room – to use that.
“We’ve done it all fall camp, so I can get unlimited reps, whether it’s a certain front or a certain defense, and with a certain offensive play. I can be in my bedroom taking a drop, or being in the quarterback room and actually be like on the field. So it’s definitely an advantage and (gives me the) edge mentally. I mean, it’s like you’re in it. I don’t know how to explain, it’s like you’re in.”
Extra time is much more difficult to carve out with how much of it fall camp demands, but Green mentioned that he typically spends an hour prior to morning team meetings and an hour before bed using the device. Per Green, an hour straight of working with it “builds mental endurance” which helps him prepare for mental fatigue that he will face in a game.
Overall, Green feels the VR camera has been a valuable tool.
“Coach (Miles) Fishback, he does a great job of, you can edit, ask questions, or what type of coverage is this? What front is it? And what is our checks towards it?,” Green said. “Or they can speed it up and say, when I say hut, they can cut it at two seconds.”
“I got to tell them the whole thing, whether it’s the coverage and all that. It speeds up my process, so I have more time to process, if I have to check the play, or if my protection is good and things like that. So it definitely— and it builds a habit of our checklists of what we got to do in a certain place.”
