FAYETTEVILLE — Mistake still dogs ex-Hog.
Give Matt Harris credit.
Approached by the media following his pro day workout for the first time since his Liberty Bowl suspension for breaking curfew, the former Arkansas safety accepted the blame, answered every question and looked his questioners in the eyes.
Harris said watching Arkansas’ 20-17 victory over East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl, after he had been sent home by Coach Bobby Petrino, was one of the hardest things he’s done.
“Not playing in the game was one thing, but to just let everyone down - the coaches that believe in you, put their faith in you - that was the hardest thing,” Harris said.
Harris, senior linebacker Wendel Davis and receiver Marques Wade left their rooms at The Peabody hotel in Memphis after bed check on New Year’s Eve and were sent home by Petrino when he found out.
Asked if he lost sleep over the incident, Harris said: “Lose some sleep? I felt like I was on drugs. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t look at a piece of grass without it reminding me of a football field.
“I mean, the day of the game I just wanted to get in my car and drive to Memphis, just to be with them.”
Harris said his example should guarantee that no Razorbacks get suspended the next time Arkansas has a bowl game.
“I don’t know what gotover me,” he said. “My track record, I had never missed a curfew, never done anything like that. And then to do something out of character like that, literally 48 hours before my last game, was - I want to say dumbness - but it was a speechless kind of action.” Sheppard recovers
Defensive end Malcolm Sheppard said he’s at about 85 percent in his return from a left shoulder injury sustained in the Liberty Bowl.
“I improved on everything that I didn’t do at the combine,” Sheppard said.
“I used the 16 days after the combine to progress on everything, and I feel like I did progress today.”
Sheppard put up 24repetitions on the bench press Tuesday, compared to 25 reps at the NFL Scouting Combine, and said he’s normally in the 30 range.
Davis does LB
Adrian Davis moved down the defense - from safety to linebacker to defensive end - during his days at Arkansas, and now he’s heading the other way.
Davis, a 6-4, 252-pounder, has begun relearning the linebacker spot, at which he played some in the Texas vs. The Nation all-star game Feb. 6
“That transition came kind of easy, and I just tried to impress the scouts today,” Davis said.
‘Miracle’ redux
The connection forHe said it
“After you go through the combine situation, where you basically walk around naked all day, that kind of gets you over being nervous.” - Former Arkansas defensive lineman Malcolm Sheppard, on whether he was nervous for Arkansas’ pro day.
Miracle on Markham 2 - the 24-yard touchdown pass from Casey Dick to London Crawford that beat LSU 31-30 in 2008 - was back at it for pro day drills.
“It felt great to be back out there on the field throwing with that guy,” Crawford said. “The last time Casey threw it to me was the game-winning catch against LSU.”
Arkansas quarterbacks coach Garrick McGee told the media Dick had a strong showing for the scouts.
“It brought back some memories, throwing with all those guys,” said Dick, who has been working at the All-Star Sports Complex in Springdale. “The first time I was on the scout team, that’s who I was throwing to.”Worth noting
Receiver London Crawford wanted to run in the 4.3-second range, but his 4.45 was still the best showing in the 40-yard dash.
Matt Harris and linebacker Wendel Davis each jumped 10 feet to post the best standing broad jump results.
Receiver Lucas Miller had the day’s best vertical jump at 35 1 /2 inches.
Defensive end Chris Berezansky’s 26 reps on the bench press at 225 pounds was the day’s best.
Receiver Reggie Fish had the best shuttle run, with his 4.09 seconds a fraction ahead of Matt Harris’ 4.1.
The best three-cone drill time was 6.63 seconds, run by defensive back Jerell Norton.
Sports, Pages 24 on 03/17/2010