SPRINGDALE -- Arkansas cornerback Jared Collins suffered a broken right hand in a recent practice, but the senior hardly missed any work, Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said Friday at the Arkansas football kickoff luncheon at the NWA Convention Center.
Bielema called Collins one of the steadiest performers with one of the best grade-point averages on the team since his arrival in 2013.
"A guy that probably everybody would say needs to be a little bigger, needs to be a little taller, but just continues to battle through," Bielema said of the 5-11, 173-pounder from Tulsa. "He broke his hand the other day and missed like two plays, popped back in and came back next practice and didn't miss a beat."
The Arkansas cornerbacks have taken a pounding in training camp. Senior D.J. Dean suffered a hamstring injury earlier this week that is likely to sideline him until at least the week of the season opener against Louisiana Tech. On Wednesday, junior college transfer Britto Tutt suffered a torn ACL in his knee that ended his season.
No Wise
Defensive end Deatrich Wise will not participate in today's scrimmage. Coach Bret Bielema said Wise is in Texas to attend the funeral of his grandfather, which is today.
Video show
Fans at the annual luncheon were treated to a variety of video presentations during the show, including behind-the-scenes looks at the job shadowing done by upperclassmen last week, a short "in the car" documentary with receivers Jared Cornelius and Drew Morgan, clips from the players on various topics such as the worst singer on the team and the best hair on the team, and a lengthy highlight reel from last season.
A highlight of the Cornelius-Morgan ride-along came when Morgan decided to play a country music song from his phone.
"No, no, no," Cornelius wailed before eventually playing air guitar to the song. Cornelius is a musical connoisseur of some note who has his own recording setup.
Reed snaps
During a video segment at the Hogs' kickoff luncheon, a series of players answered the question: What position would you most like to play?
Receiver Dominique Reed provided the funniest response.
The 6-3, 175-pounder from Camden said he would be a deep snapper.
"I'd just chill, get my snaps in, and I'd be done," Reed said.
Don't check it
Bret Bielema was touting the academic work of his players in summer school when he took a whack at a couple of coaches.
"We actually had a team GPA of 3.0 in the summer session, which is like incredible," Bielema said. "I'm glad they don't look retroactively at our coaching GPAs. I can't speak for [Dan] Enos and [Barry] Lunney, who were probably 3.0 nerds."
Wise Walker
Bret Bielema started to get emotional Friday at the luncheon when describing something running back Kody Walker told the team Thursday night.
"To have a guy of Kody Walker's stature and values ... he gave a message to our team last night that just doesn't happen every day," Bielema said. "He did a really good job of just expressing what perseverance truly is. To hear that was really cool."
Walker, a sixth-year senior because of a string of injuries, cracked the crowd up during the team introductions by saying "This is crazy, my sixth luncheon."
Bielema made reference to Walker's words later in his speech, saying, "To all the players that are in this room, especially the ones that are entering a season for maybe the last time, let's take the words of what Kody said the other day and when the season's done, let's be able to look back without any regrets."
Next best
Offensive line coach Kurt Anderson said part of the reason he's having so many players work at multiple positions in camp is if a starter is injured or ill and needs to be replaced, he can insert the next best lineman.
"I don't believe in having twos, and if it's a right tackle, then the next right tackle on the depth chart goes in," Anderson said. "It's the sixth-best lineman goes in."
Anderson said if players haven't worked at more than one position, they won't be as advanced in terms of preparation, technique and knowledge.
"You might have a guy sitting there because he's the No. 2 right guard, but the right tackle goes down, and now you've got a guy that might be your eighth best playing out there in a game," he said. "To me, that doesn't make much sense."
They're fast, quick
Offensive lineman Jake Raulerson, a graduate transfer from Texas, said he was impressed while blocking for running backs Kody Walker, Rawleigh Williams and Devwah Whaley in last week's scrimmage.
"They're great backs and really fast and quick," Raulerson said. "We're amazed sometimes when we see these guys, because we'll give them a second-and-a-half of an opening, and they hit that hole like lightning.
"They're already gone, and we're thinking, 'Man, we didn't give them a whole bunch of time.' But guys like that, you give them a little opening, and they're going to make something happen."
Extra points
• Coach Bret Bielema said the Razorbacks concluded two-a-days Wednesday. The Razorbacks had a final opportunity for two-a-days Friday, but instead they focused on film study, Bielema said.
• The Razorbacks will conduct their final major scrimmage of camp today at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Bielema has not announced a format or length for the workout, which is not open to the public.
• Arkansas will not practice Sunday, the day the preseason Associated Press top 25 poll will come out.
• Classes begin Monday, which will allow the Razorbacks to fill out their 120-man roster and start normal afternoon practice times.
Sports on 08/20/2016