He was temporarily unconscious on the field after he was tackled and his head bounced off the grass.

"After I got knocked out, I looked up and all I saw was 50,000 faces," Leard said. "I woke up and I was strapped down. I remember trying to throw the ball away and that's it.

"They were rolling me off the field and I was on the stretcher and our guys were telling me they were going to pray for me," he said.

The Arkansas game was Leard's first action since he suffered a separated right shoulder against Mississippi on Sept. 25.

Leard, a junior, was injured with 13:57 left in the second quarter and Auburn behind 14-0.

The Tigers made two first downs to reach the Arkansas 22 when Leard rolled right on second-and-18 with Chris Brooks in pursuit. Brooks wrapped his arms around Leard's legs as he threw. Leard's knees hit first and he toppled with his head hitting the ground last.

Leard started the season by hitting almost 72 percent of his passes and was No. 1 in the country in pass efficiency when he was hurt against Mississippi. He completed 5-of-8 for 41 yards against Arkansas.

"My shoulder is fine," Leard said in the dressing room. "You have to go through some bad things to get to the top. Hopefully, these are the bad things we have to go through.

"I feel like I'm letting these guys down by getting injured," Leard said.