Miller bounces back from injury
Harold McIlvain II
Issue date: 11/7/08 Section: Sports
After suffering a concussion against Alabama, Arkansas junior wide receiver Lucas Miller said the road to getting healthy was frustrating.
Miller said he hoped for a big year after a 67-yard, three catch performance in the season opener, two of which were during the game-winning drive.
Two games later, he left the conference opener with a head injury and was unable to play against Texas the following week. He was limited in the next three games against Florida, Auburn and Kentucky.
But against Ole Miss, he was cleared fully to play and caught two passes for 17 yards. He made an impact in the fourth quarter when he caught a touchdown pass on fourth down.
And in the Tulsa game last week, Miller had a career-high four catches for 63 yards, showing signs of being healthy for the first time in several weeks.
"For myself personally, it was a good game to get back," Miller said. "I am finally getting over some of the symptoms and some of that junk that I wanted to really get rid of. It was a good game to get back into the groove of things."
The Huntington native said the weeks following the concussion were really frustrating while he tried to get back on the field fulltime.
"I pretty much missed three-and-a-half games, and that is never fun when you are hoping for a big season," Miller said. "But things like that happen in football. I'm just rolling with the punches right now. The training staff is doing a great job getting me healthy."
With the nature of the injury, being patient is key, Miller said.
"[The training staff] just didn't want to push it," Miller said. "You can come back too soon and really hurt yourself. They were really cautious with me. I would come back and do a little here and there but never too much in the games for those three weeks. When Ole Miss came around, I was a full go."
But the concussion hasn't been the only setback Miller has faced this season. Miller said he suffered an injury in the summer that didn't allow him to fully show what he could do for the new coaching staff.
Miller said he hoped for a big year after a 67-yard, three catch performance in the season opener, two of which were during the game-winning drive.
Two games later, he left the conference opener with a head injury and was unable to play against Texas the following week. He was limited in the next three games against Florida, Auburn and Kentucky.
But against Ole Miss, he was cleared fully to play and caught two passes for 17 yards. He made an impact in the fourth quarter when he caught a touchdown pass on fourth down.
And in the Tulsa game last week, Miller had a career-high four catches for 63 yards, showing signs of being healthy for the first time in several weeks.
"For myself personally, it was a good game to get back," Miller said. "I am finally getting over some of the symptoms and some of that junk that I wanted to really get rid of. It was a good game to get back into the groove of things."
The Huntington native said the weeks following the concussion were really frustrating while he tried to get back on the field fulltime.
"I pretty much missed three-and-a-half games, and that is never fun when you are hoping for a big season," Miller said. "But things like that happen in football. I'm just rolling with the punches right now. The training staff is doing a great job getting me healthy."
With the nature of the injury, being patient is key, Miller said.
"[The training staff] just didn't want to push it," Miller said. "You can come back too soon and really hurt yourself. They were really cautious with me. I would come back and do a little here and there but never too much in the games for those three weeks. When Ole Miss came around, I was a full go."
But the concussion hasn't been the only setback Miller has faced this season. Miller said he suffered an injury in the summer that didn't allow him to fully show what he could do for the new coaching staff.
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