Letdown troubles UA coach

Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said he saw some “encouraging improvement” after reviewing film of the Razorbacks’ scrimmage Saturday, but his team didn’t do a good job following up that effort Tuesday in its first practice since the scrimmage.

“It was disappointing,” Petrino said of Tuesday’s practice, in which coaches chided players practically from start to finish. “We need to learn that when we come back from a hard Saturday and you have a couple of days off that you come out here and focus and put it on the line and practice full speed.

“ I thought we had some guys that were just trying to get through it. We’re not going to do that. We need to learn how to work hard. That’s how you get consistent is you come out and work hard each practice.”

Not all of the players’ struggles were effort-related. Coaches continue to reintroduce schemes on offense and defense, and Petrino mentioned a new blitz, specifically, that caused problems for the offensive line. Offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said he had been pleased with the offensive line’s performance in the scrimmage, and Bobby Petrino mentioned guard / tackle Wade Grayson, guard Mitch Petrus and center Jonathan Luigs for their efforts Saturday. Defensively, Petrino said linemen Antwain Robinson and Malcolm Sheppard stood out during film review. Arkansas will practice Thursday and Friday before capping spring practice with Saturday’s Red-White intrasquad game.

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Big back is back Converted linebacker and current running back Chip Gregory returned to practice Tuesday after missing workouts Friday and Saturday to attend his grandmother’s funeral in Texas.

Gregory, 6-3, 218 pounds, saw plenty of reps Tuesday along with Michael Smith, 5-7, 173, and Brandon Barnett, 5-10, 206. Gregory continues to recover from a high ankle sprain sustained earlier this spring.

“He looked big,” Coach Bobby Petrino said with a smile. “It’s good to see a big back running downhill. He’s still a little bit gimpy, but he’s pushing hard and trying to fight through it. “ It’ll be nice if we can get him some work Saturday night in the spring game. He needs some live work, to get hit, get knocked down and see if he can do it about four or five times in a row.”

Calling on London Offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said junior wideout London Crawford continues to embrace his role as a go-to playmaker.

Crawford caught a combined 13 passes for 264 yards and 3 touchdowns in his first two seasons but will play under higher expectations this season.

“I think he’d never really had a chance to have a role before, so now that you have a role, sometimes that makes a big difference when a new staff comes in and you have an opportunity,” Petrino said.

“It’s still a process. He’s still got to be pushed every day and still get a little bit tougher every day, but he’s growing and he’s getting there. It’s just something we’ve still got to keep working on.” Quarterback shuffle

While senior quarterback Casey Dick will work with the first-team offense in Saturday’s Red-White intrasquad scrimmage, his younger brother Nathan isn’t going to get left out of the playing time. Nathan Dick, a redshirt freshman, is expected to split snaps with senior Alex Mortensen when the secondteam offense is on the field. “I think he’s really improved techniquewise,” offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said of Nathan Dick. “I think he’s getting the ball out of his hand quicker, he’s throwing it accurate. He’s just got to continue to understand the offense and feel comfortable and get in there and call it with confidence.”

Injury report Running back Torian Wilkins was a new addition to the injury list Tuesday. Wilkins, a sophomore out of Katy, Texas, rode the stationary bike and went through other exercises while in full gear.

The injury group shrank in size as first-team cornerbacks Jamar Love and Isaac Madison returned to practice. Love missed a couple of days last week, while Madison was knocked out of Saturday’s scrimmage.

“Isaac limped around a little bit because he tweaked his ankle,” cornerbacks coach Lorenzo Ward said. “Jamar was much better from his quad bruise, so Isaac didn’t move around as well as I thought he should, but Jamar did.”