Arizona will not enter the 2020 season at full strength. Monday, head coach Kevin Sumlin confirmed two of the injuries that have hit the Wildcats this fall as he announced freshman running back Frank Brown and redshirt freshman receiver Jaden Mitchell will miss time this season.

Brown has been building significant buzz already through the preseason, so his setback certainly appears to be the more impactful one for UA in the immediate future.

The freshman from Texas has been part of an impressive running back unit for the Wildcats, but he will miss 2-3 weeks with an MCL injury meaning UA will have four scholarship backs to use early in the season since redshirt sophomore Bam Smith already opted out of games this year.

A versatile player, Brown is expected to be used in a variety of roles this year and could end up as an option in the return game as well.

Mitchell has the more significant injury of the two as an injured knee will keep him out the entire season, Sumlin said. The second-year receiver already tore the ACL in his opposite knee as a high school senior forcing him to delay his enrollment with the Wildcats by one year. The Las Vegas native played in one game for Arizona as a freshman but did not register any stats.

"We're talking on a daily basis, so we're gonna figure that out," Sumlin said during his first weekly press conference of the season when asked how another serious knee injury could impact the rest of Mitchell's career. "I can't give you a definitive answer right now, we'll figure that out."

Sumlin wants Mitchell to have the surgery that will be required to repair the injury before the two get together with the medical staff to determine what the future holds. It is unclear what type of impact Mitchell would have had on the offense this season, but he is a player who earned praise last year for his work ahead of the 2019 season.

UA has had to deal with injuries already in the preseason with starting center Josh McCauley being among the group of players battling injuries over the last several weeks.

"You feel for them," UA quarterback Grant Gunnell said Monday. "We've been working for I don't know how many months now and we're here for the season and you get injured. So you just have to be there for them and understand how they're feeling. They might not want to be talked to at first, so just be there for them when they want to talk."

UA opens the season this Saturday on the road against Utah with kickoff set for 2 p.m. MST in Salt Lake City.

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