This is the first time I’ve laced up cleats since October of last year - since my ACL injury. I was nervous. Recovery was really hard for me. I had to sit down and think about what I wanted to do for my family, myself and for my hometown. I just started praying to God and asking for answers and here I am today ready for first practice.

Walking down the tunnel, I always look up to my left and to my right. I just thank God for being able to play the game I love and for recovery from ACL surgery. I just look at all the teams Arkansas is going to beat this year. Straight ahead is the countdown to when we play Portland State and that’s what we’ve been working for this whole time.

Right here is me and Trey standing side-by-side getting signals from the sideline. The relationship between the two of us has been really good, he’s like a brother to me. We always talk, even before he got here. He was an early enrollee. He always talked to me and told me that I need to hurry up and get here so we can turn this thing around.

Coach Stepp is like a second dad to me. He brought me into this family and introduced me to his wife, his son and his mom & dad. I just felt that family bond with him. He’s a great man. All of the people on the coaching staff are great. In this picture, he’s telling me don’t worry about anything, just go out there and play football like I know how to do and everything will be alright.

Right there I was thinking about the plays, just trying to make sure I do them right so I wouldn’t mess up. I don’t like messing up. If I mess up one time, I do my best to make sure I don’t do it next time.

The receiver room is great. We’re all a family. We’re brothers. When we’re going over the film, we don’t sit there and downgrade a person for messing up. We’re always encouraging each other to get better the next play and just be better the next day. When we come in there at 6:45 in the morning, we just sit there and tell each other that we’re going to be great today and going to hustle every play, even if we’re not getting the ball and blocking. We’re going to hustle and be great.

It’s a mindset of differences between here and high school. The physicality of the corner and him knowing where you’re about to go. You have to be better at giving him a move inside or outside just to give yourself a little bit of separation in order for you to win on your route.

I was just thinking what I could do to be better at halftime. How can I push myself harder? How can I push my brother beside me? How can I push the defensive player and make them better? Just things like that to make the team better and make us a championship team.

It’s an honor to have my name on the back of a helmet. My family always pushed me and my grandpa kept telling me when I was younger that I was going to be something in life. My grandma took that role once my grandpa died and was always pushing me to be better. For me to have the name ‘Burks’ on my back is really an honor. I want to rep my grandpa’s name and his legacy.

T.Q. is coming over there encouraging me to push myself a little harder and to stand up because I did get a little down. We have some really good teammates on this team. I think it’s going to be really good this year.

Special teams is a big thing to me. Just because I play on the offense doesn’t mean anything. I play anywhere that Coach puts me. I take everything seriously. I’ll give effort anywhere the put me, it could be D-line or O-line, I’ll still put out the effort. Right there, I was just getting my fit on a dummy and working.

From Imarjaye’s talk, I took away that it doesn’t matter how big or how small you are, just like he said about the roots of a redwood tree. They have to have a brother, which is another redwood, to come together so they can grow to become 350-feet tall. From that, I took in that if I look to the left & to the right and we all just come together, we can be one big unit and be powerful.

We were praying here. It’s just the bond our receiving corps has. We’re all one big family and we take it really serious. Coach Stepp wants us to be really close and I think he’s doing a great job of making sure we are. I think we’re really close as a whole unit.

That cold tub is not a joke. Back in high school, I did it a little bit but I didn’t take it serious like it is up here. Right there, it was pretty cold. You have to really man up and get in there.

I was just thinking to myself and thanking God that he prevented me from having any injuries and that he would bless our O-lineman Noah on a speedy recovery and that he would get better because I’ve been through that ACL injury and it’s hard on you. I was just praying for him and I was just thanking God being able to go out again and play that game I love.