FAYETTEVILLE — Ford says give credit to entire D.
Safety Elton Ford was singled out for praise by Coach Bobby Petrino after Friday’s scrimmage for his determined tackling.
“I’m thankful for it, but I just go back to the whole defense,” Ford said. “We all played fast.
“The linebackers fitted properly, so it made my job easier. ... It was a team effort.”
Ford has a combined 16 starts the previous two seasons, but he’s been working on the second team this spring while coming back from an off-season hamstring injury.
“I’ll leave it at that and kind of work my way back into it,” Ford said.
Personnel matters
Receiver Joe Adams missed his third practice of the spring, and quarterback Brandon Mitchell was gone for his fourth workout in a row.
Adams is “working through issues,” according to Coach Bobby Petrino, and Mitchell is excused due to a death in the family.
Injury update
Linebacker Austin Moss wore a right knee brace and worked on the stationary bike beside offensive guard Kareem Crowell, who has missed the past two seasons.
Defensive end Colton Nash (right leg) and offensive guard Wade Grayson (left knee) rehabbed together in the end zone early in practice. Grayson, who was in a T-shirt and shorts, snapped to quarterbacks in skeleton work for a second consecutive day.
Blitz time
Quarterback Tyler Wilson said the defense did more blitzing Friday than in previous scrimmage work.
“They rarely sat back in coverage. I had to be on my toes mentally,” said Wilson, who completed 14 of 22 passes for 180 yards and 1 touchdown without an interception. “There were acouple of times I had some letdowns, and I’ve got to keep us from being in that situation. ... But overall, it was all right.”
Wilson said it’s good for him to face pressure from the defense.
“Seeing blitzes and understanding them is important, because that’s the way it’s going to be in a game,” he said. “The more they blitz, the more realistic it is to game situations, especially to a new quarterback.
“I learned a lot of times last year when I’d get in a game that they’d start blitzing me just to keep my eyes down and try to expose me a little bit.”
Wilson’s passing looked sharp Saturday.
Zone holes
Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino noted after Friday’s scrimmage that the defense was working a lot more zone coverages after focusing on man-to-man calls earlier in the spring.
The zone calls, Petrino noted, helped the Razorbacks get their handson a lot of passes, and the defense was credited with an unofficial 10 pass breakups in Friday’s scrimmage.
However, receiver Greg Childs, said he likes the zone looks.
“I mean, zone is the easiest thing to play,” Childs said. “There’s always spots in the defense. If you understand the coverages and what they’re doing, you’re going to know where the zone holes are at, regardless.” Good noise
Running back Broderick Green said Friday’s scrimmage sounded as good as it looked.
“There was a lot of hitting. We came out and made a lot of noise,” Green said. “Coach [Bobby Petrino] said he thought it was the best practice so far.”
So a noisy practice is a good practice?
“Oh yeah, that’s great,” Green said. “That means you’ve got guys competing on both ends. We had the pads popping.”
All-weather RB
Dennis Johnson smiled when told that quarterback Tyler Wilson referred to him as an “all-weather running back.”
Wilson meant it as a compliment because Johnson can make plays in a variety of situations as a runner, receiver or kick returner.
“I feel like I did a good job,” said Johnson, who had a combined 94 yards rushing and receiving and scored three touchdowns in Friday’s scrimmage. “I try to come out every week and make big plays and make something happen.
“I try to be good at everything I do. If that means get the first down on third-and-3, I’m going to get the 3 yards. If it means go get a touchdown, I’m going to go get the touchdown, 60 yards.”Kickoff returners
Players returning kickoffs in Saturday’s practice were running backs Dennis Johnson and Knile Davis, receiver Lance Ray and cornerback Ramon Broadway.
Johnson, a junior, has held the job the previous two seasons, and he is likely to do it again in 2010.
“We’ve not really named him, but more or less it would be his [job],” special teams coordinator John L.
Smith said. “They’re going to go out and they’re going to compete every day, and it’s either his to lose or somebody else’s to take away.” Worth noting
Senior Damario Ambrose has taken first-team reps at defensive end ahead of Caleb Evans the past couple of days.
About 65 junior recruits attended Saturday’s practice.
Junior linebacker Jerry Franklin, who missed some practices earlier this spring to do extra weight room work, has fought through an ankle injury and is back working with the first-team defense.
The Razorbacks worked on moving the ball off the goal line during part of Saturday’s practice.
Arkansas has completed 11 of 15 allotted spring practices.
Sports, Pages 37 on 04/18/2010