Sunny day for football practice

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas Razorback football team practiced for just over two hours on Tuesday in warm, sunny weather. The squad was in shoulder pads and shorts on the practice fields just south of Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium finalizing preparations for Saturday’s spring game.

"It was good to get back out on the field," head coach Bobby Petrino said. "I don’t think we had our best practice of the spring. I was disappointed that when we took the lower pads off, we didn’t get more out of the team. We still have a lot to learn. We need to develop more leadership from within the team. We need to have guys that come out here and change the attitude, change the tempo during drills, not the coaches. What I was looking for today, we didn’t get."

Petrino was hoping to see the effort from the squad’s last scrimmage return in practiceTuesday afternoon.

"The last scrimmage was good," Petrino said. "I liked what I saw. The defense had good intensity. It was probably the most physical scrimmage we have had from the defense. Guys were flying around and hitting people. Pads were popping. I think the defensive line has the upper hand on the offensive line but the offense continues to make big plays."

Petrino is still encouraged by the progress he has seen at the quarterback position this spring. He is looking forward to more progress and seeing the correction of simple mistakes.

"We can shoreup our pass protection," Petrino said. "We can shore up our timing with our quarterback drops. With the routes we run, we have the chance to be pretty explosive. Both quarterbacks did some good things during practice today. They both made some mistakes and we are going to continue to work on that."

Senior Michael Smith participated in some of today’s practice drills. Smith adds depth at the running back position and leadership and experience on the offensive side of the ball.

"It was good to see Michael out here today," Petrino said. "That has been our plan all spring, to bring him back during the last week of spring practice. We did some individual drills and anything that doesn’t involve contact. I think it was fun for him to be out here, too. We’ll see how sore he is tomorrow and decide if he practices. He’ll definitely practice again on Friday."

Arkansas football will practice next on Wednesday, April 15, at 4 p.m. For more information, visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.