First practice of 2008 football season in the books

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas Razorback football began fall camp with a two-hour practice on Monday after reporting to campus on Sunday. The team worked in shorts and helmets on the practice fields just south of Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

"Well, we got started and we found out we have a long way to go," head coach Bobby Petrino said. "We have a long way to go with handling the heat and keeping our concentration where it needs to be. We did get a lot of things accomplished and it was good to see the freshmen out here by themselves. We got them going with some individual drills and it looks like a good group to me."

The temperatures soared to the high 90’s in Fayetteville on Monday with the temperature on the turf close to 100 degrees. The heat was felt by all at practice but Petrino was hoping to see a better effort out of his players on the first day of camp.

"The heat was a big part of practice today," Petrino said. "We didn’t do as good a job dealing with it as we needed to. There were times when the offensive line wasn’t moving as quick as they should have been or with the amount of emotion they should have had."

Backs De’Anthony Curtis and Dennis Johnson made their Razorback practice debuts on Monday. Both incoming freshmen, Petrino was impressed by what he saw out of two of his youngest players.

"I thought they were both impressive," Petrino said. "They both have really good vision. They are very quick in the way that they catch. They both have great hands."

Joe Adams and the young receiving corps also got a lot of reps on day one of fall camp.

"They are going to get a lot of work," Petrino said. "They were tired after the drills we did with just the freshmen. Fundamentally, it was good to see how they fought through the heat and the extra reps they got. Joe made a couple nice, long plays for us."

Jarius Wright was another freshman who caught Petrino’s eye on Monday. He joins Adams in a talented group of receivers.

"He’s very fast, very quick," Petrino said. "He’s tough. The heat didn’t bother him at all. He ran hard for every play."

Razorback football will return to the practice field Tuesday with the freshmen starting at 3 p.m. and the returners at 4 p.m. Visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com for updated information on Arkansas’ fall camp.