Razorback split personnel
FAYETTEVILLE – On the first day of practice of its bye week, the University of Arkansas football team did things differently on Tuesday inside Walker Pavilion. The Hogs stretched as a team inside then let its starters go outside for conditioning drills while the rest of the Razorbacks stayed indoors for a tough practice.
“We decided today to take a lot of time to watch the video,” Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino said. “We went through it with our players in individual meetings. We came out here and stretched and then ran the guys that got a lot of reps in the game and practiced with everybody else. It was fun, good work for the guys that have been on the scout team all year to get individual coaching instruction. Then we did a little seven-on-seven and then the team. It was good to get some work done.”
The Hogs started with individual drills before moving to group work and then ending with team practice. Arkansas’ coaching staff paid particular attention to their players’ techniques and routes to the ball. Coach Petrino was especially happy with his coaches’ work.
“It was good,” Petrino said. “They need to get that individual attention and the coaching. We threw the ball around a lot. We kept most of the freshmen receivers here so they could get some extra work. Ryan Mallet and Jim Youngblood did a nice job of throwing it around. We kept Dennis Johnson and De’Anthony Curtis [inside] so they could get extra work. The young D-linemen that are redshirting did a nice job. It was good to get back out here and get back to practice. It is good for them to get the individual instruction. Your redshirt year is hard when Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday all you get is the other team’s plays and you aren’t getting a lot of individual coaching. We’ll continue to do it Wednesday and Thursday.”
The Razorbacks have been hit by the injury bug as of late, but hope that a weekend without a game will help tremendously once the Hogs begin to install the Mississippi State game plan.
“Adrian [Davis] should be back,” Petrino said. “He’ll get some work tomorrow and Thursday; get some of the individual work and some one-on-one work. We’ll keep him out of the team drills and he should be full go when we go to normal game day practice next week.
“The rest will really help [Michael Smith]. I think that it will help not only with his shoulder but with his legs and getting everything back. There is no question about it and he definitely needs the week off.”
The Hogs return to the practice field on Wednesday for another round of workouts. For more information regarding Razorback football or University of Arkansas athletics please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
