What was already a difficult Saturday for the Arkansas Razorbacks, as their record dropped to 2-3 with a crushing 56-13 loss to visiting Notre Dame, got even darker when redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jalen Brown suffered a grisly injury to his left leg while attempting to bring down a reception in the end zone late in the third quarter.
According to a report on the ABC broadcast of the game, Brown was transported to Arkansas Children’s Northwest Hospital in Springdale, Arkansas, where he was set to undergo x-rays on the leg, which appeared to bend at an unnatural angle as he came down from trying to haul in the potential touchdown throw from Razorbacks’ quarterback Taylen Green.
Following the game, Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman said that Brown had broken his tibia and fibula, the two major bones in the lower leg, according to Matthew Byrne of Arkansas Online.
CAUTION: Video of the incident may be difficult to watch.
Brown’s First Razorbacks Season Likely Over
The ABC broadcast declined to show video replays of the play on which Brown was injured. His teammates surrounded Brown almost immediately as he writhed in obvious pain and trainers tended to the fallen receiver, who was taken from the field on a cart.
Prior to the injury, Brown had just one catch for 11 yards in the game which was completely dominated by the Fighting Irish who evened their record at 2-2.
While it appeared that Brown’s season would likely be over, he was off to a strong start for a struggling Arkansas team, hauling in 11 receptions for 156 yards including the first two touchdowns of his college career.
Brown had already become something of a journeyman in just his first three college seasons. Coming out of high school, he was ranked as the No. 10 receiver in the 2023 recruiting class, and No. 14 overall recruit to come out of the football-rich state of Florida, No. 68 in the nation.
He chose to play for the LSU Tigers, but after one redshirt season, Brown entered the transfer portal and ended up, for his first active season, at Florida State. But he got into just nine games for the Seminoles, catching only eight passes for 75 yards without a touchdown.
Brown Had Been Off to Encouraging Start
In 2025, after another transfer — to Arkansas this time — Brown wasted no time getting into the end zone, scoring touchdowns in each of the first two games of the season, against Alabama A&M and Arkansas State.
The Hogs won both of those games 52-7 and 56-14. But the road has been all downhill for coach Sam Pittman and Arkansas since then.
A 41-35 defeat to SEC rival LSU was followed by a heartbreaking 32-31 loss in the road to American Conference opponent Memphis. The Razorbacks returned home for Saturday’s game only to watch the wheels come off completely as Notre Dame led 42-13 at the half behind two rushing touchdowns and two more via the aerial route by running back Jeremiyah Love.
The gruesome injury to Brown may have overshadowed the dispiriting results of the game, which saw Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman insert most of his second-string players into the game by the fourth quarter.
Jalen Brown Injury Update: Latest Report on Arkansas Receiver Carted Off Field