Hogs Sluggish During Morning Workout
Arkansas continues to search for a consistent level of play during preseason workouts after a one-and-a-half-hour practice on Friday morning in full pads on the practice fields just south of Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
“We came out kind of sleepy this morning,” Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt said. “But we finally picked it up a little bit there toward the end of practice. We are constantly trying to reach for that consistency level, which we haven’t had yet. It is about coming to work everyday, executing everyday and taking care of your responsibility. That is what we are disappointed about, and that is what we are going to address the team about.”
Friday was slated to be the Razorbacks final two-a-day practice, but with Saturday’s 6 p.m. scrimmage at DWRRS the coaching staff scaled it back to one practice on Friday.
Saturday’s scrimmage is open to the public and gives the Hogs a chance to flip on the lights and put the players in more of a game-day atmosphere.
“We’ll turn on the lights and let the fans come in and watch,” Nutt said. “It will give us as realistic a game-day atmosphere as we are going to get. I think it will help us.”
The scrimmage will be important for the Hogs’ newcomers that are going to be relied upon this season. For several of the starters that are dinged up, it will be a night off.
“There is emphasis on the players that are going to be out there,” Nutt said. “We have a few guys like Pierre Brown and Sam Olajubutu that we have to make sure they are healthy. We know those guys are first team, so we will hold them out.”
Quarterback Robert Johnson is also likely to miss the scrimmage as he nurses a strained groin.
“Right now I would say Robert Johnson probably won’t get in there,” Nutt said. “It is important that he is healthy. It is also equally important that Alex Mortensen gets this type of reps. Then we will go back and discuss who exactly we are looking at. After this scrimmage we will be real close to our two deep.
“He (Johnson) wants to, but we will probably hold him out. He practiced the first four or five periods today, just handing off and doing three-step drops. But, he has to make sure it’s healthy. We don’t want to keep re-injuring the groin.”
Arkansas’ annual Fan Day is set for Saturday, Aug. 20, from 10 a.m. to noon with the festivities being held on the lawn in front of the Tyson Poultry Science Building. The scrimmage will follow at 6 p.m. in Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Gates 1, 6 and 10 will be used to access the west side of the stadium one hour before the scrimmage begins.
