It’s not just fans who may pause in remorse from their profanity in defeat. Coaches, whether profane or just caustically civil, can regret words, too, following a painful loss.

Arkansas offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach David Lee says his knee-jerk reaction after last Saturday’s 42-29 SEC loss to Kentucky was unfair to junior quarterback Casey Dick, primed to start again in Saturday’s 6 p. m. non-conference game against North Texas at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

“ I was probably a little harsh with him after the ball game, ” Lee said after Tuesday’s practice. “ A lot of that is the sting of defeat and then you sit and look at what transpired in the last two weeks (a 41-38 SEC loss at Alabama and the Kentucky loss here ). Casey played well enough by far to win at Alabama and I thought his play the other night, though it wasn’t spectacular... I don’t think he cost us the game. We are staying with him and continuing to work on him fundamentally and his accuracy and hopefully we will see some rewards soon. ”

The quarterback gets eyed when a team ranks 109 th in passing and third in rushing like Arkansas ranks currently, but drops by receivers trying to replace injured All-SEC senior Marcus Monk have played a considerable part, too, especially in the SEC losses to Alabama and Kentucky.

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“ We have probably dropped five or six balls, ” Lee said of the 1-2 Razorbacks, 0-2 in the SEC. “ You catch balls, you are still moving the chains. You get yourself in position to get more points. But he’s been hot and he’s been cold at times and they (receivers ) have been hot and they have been cold at times. ”

Lee said “ lack of confidence” leads to receivers dropping open passes or the quarterback overthrowing them when they are open.

So what’s a team to do ?

“ Work your tail off and try and get your timing better, ” Lee said.

Lee said in addition to 19 plays in the daily pass skeleton drill, every other play was a pass when the Razorbacks practiced in pads inside the Walker Pavilion on a rainy Tuesday. Lee praised the offensive line.

“ Our pass protection has been good, ” Lee said.

With Monk continued out indefinitely from two arthroscopic knee surgeries since Aug. 9 and promising freshman split end Crosby Tuck out for the year with a broken elbow during the Kentucky game, fourthyear junior Chris Baker of Osceola has been promoted to backup split end behind sophomore London Crawford while Robert Johnson and Reggie Fish are onetwo at flanker.

Head coach Houston Nutt said Baker, Crawford, Johnson and redshirt freshman receiver Carlton Salters “ really stepped up” during what he overall called “ a good practice. ”

It was a good practice without their best player. All-American Doak Walker Award winning tailback Darren McFadden got the day off after 29 carries for 173 yards against Kentucky despite playing with a stomach virus and various bumps and bruises.

“ I didn’t give him the day off, ” running backs coach Tim Horton said, smiling. “[Trainer Dean ] Weber did. He’s a little banged up but he should be back tomorrow. ”

Horton said both Felix Jones, who practiced Tuesday, and McFadden are both over the virus that plagued them even as they combined for 306 rushing yards against Kentucky plus Jones’ 82-yard touchdown on a free kick return.

With McFadden watching while reserve Michael Smith is suspended for disciplinary reasons, sophomore Brandon Barnett of Texarkana ran second-team tailback Tuesday. Defensive tackle Ernest Mitchell’s return from disciplinary suspension and Marcus Harrison’s switch from starting defensive end to backup tackle prompts changes in Arkansas ’ defensive line for a fourth consecutive game.

Harrison, formerly an every day starter at end and then tackle, has struggled in a senior season first marred by a torn ACL last spring and a disciplinary suspension because of drug charges the week before the Sept. 1 season opener when he was supposed to start at defensive end.

Harrison started at left end last week against Kentucky but was benched in favor of sophomore Adrian Davis during the second half. Harrison now is the backup to Malcolm Sheppard at left tackle while Davis and junior Antwain Robinson start on the ends.

Harrison was a starting tackle last year until injured and replaced by Mitchell. He originally was a defensive end out of Little Rock Mills and then Hargrave Military Academy but “ just wasn’t giving us any production, ” Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said, when Harrison switched back to end this season. Defensive line coach Tracy Rocker said the move showed that “ tackle is his more natural spot. ”

Mitchell, suspended from the Kentucky game because of an altercation in the preceding week’s 41-38 loss at Alabama, will start at right tackle backed by Fred Bledsoe, the starter against Kentucky in Mitchell’s absence.

Robinson was withheld from Tuesday’s practice because of a sore quadriceps muscle. Chris Wade replaced Robinson on the first unit Tuesday, but Robinson should practice today.

Former Arkansas running backs coach Danny Nutt, retiring for health reasons last July, should not have been allowed in the Arkansas coaching box where he observed the game last week, the SEC Office said Tuesday.

Arkansas won’t be subjected to any penalty, and Danny Nutt can still attend games, just not with the coaches on the field or in the booth.