Two-a-days are over for the football Razorbacks, but the pressure and heat is still rising for the squad as the season opener approaches. The Razorbacks started preparing Wednesday against looks that the Western Illinois defense will present the Hogs on Aug. 30, and the UA is conducting a mock game Friday inside Razorback Stadium.

The dress rehearsal practice is not open to the public or media.

“ They’re trying to get us ready for game situations because, obviously, they’re not going to be able to get on the field with us and help us out on some plays, ” sophomore tight end D. J. Williams said. “ They’re trying to get us to think on our own and realize that the game is coming around here in 10, nine days. ”

Live tackling will occur in the dress rehearsal, but it’s not yet known whether the Razorback assistant coaches will occupy the press box like they do during regular-season games to scheme, adjust and voice over commands to the coaches and players on the sidelines. Head coach Bobby Petrino planned to meet late Wednesday afternoon with his assistants and line out whether to place some coaches in the box for the dress rehearsal Friday evening.

What is known, though, is that defensive coordinator Willy Robinson will be in the press box during the season calling plays, even though he feels a bit uncomfortable away from the sidelines.

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“ I don’t like it at all, ” Robinson said Wednesday of being in the box. “ But the thing is, I get to see the whole picture.... But I don’t feel what’s going on on the field, so I’ve got to separate myself from the emotional part of it now. I’ve got to stay up there and calm down. ”

Robinson has coached both on the sideline and in the press box during his 30-year coaching career. “ I’ve done both, but my favorite has always been on the sideline, ” Robinson said. “ But I’m going to do what’s best for this football team, and that’s be upstairs. ” Heralded tight ends

garner criticism Arkansas’ tight ends, namely D. J. Williams, were a primary target and succeeded with flying colors in the spring. But offensive coordinator Paul Petrino voiced a rare displeasure with the unit Tuesday after practice.

“ Tight ends did pretty good, but they can play better, ” he said. “ They need to pick up their game and start playing better. ”

Arkansas’ practices have been closed to the media since Aug. 16, so journalistic performance reviews of the tight ends’ sessions haven’t been abundant. The tight ends, however, did perform well in the Hogs’ first scrimmage of the preseason Aug. 10. The three-man unit accounted for more than 25 percent of the passing offense in the scrimmage, snagging 11 catches for 123 yards and one touchdown.

As for now, the lack of production recently in the closed practices, Williams said, can be credited to tiredness, missed assignments and the group slowing down on blocks.

“ That’s just something we need to work on, ” Williams said Wednesday. “ We’ve had a long, hard camp and I think fatigue is really getting to us now, but that’s just something that happens in the fourth quarter and we need to overcome and step up if [the coaches ] want us to be the playmakers like they want us to be. ” ‘ As the Hog Ball Turns ’

The strange tale of Patrick Beverley at the University of Arkansas has twisted and turned as much as a story arc in a soap opera.

After rumors in April sprouted of a possible transfer to South Florida, the school where former Hogs coach Stan Heath now runs the program, Beverley’s mother came out and denied the rumors.

Sources said Beverley wanted to transfer, according to Tampa Bay Online, but his mother, Lisa, had final say. As a result, Beverley was staying on board as a Razorback.

But then came the bombshell: The short announcement of his departure from the UA on Aug. 8.

“ Junior guard Patrick Beverley will not compete for the Razorbacks in the 2008-09 basketball season, ” a portion of the 34-word news release read.

CBSsports. com reported earlier that afternoon, through an anonymous source, that Beverley was booted because of academic issues.

Then came Beverley’s interview with FoxSports. com one week later, when Beverley told reporter Jeff Goodman that his departure had nothing to do with academics but that he committed an NCAA violation. Oh, and he was going overseas to pursue a professional career.

“ It had nothing to do with academics, ” Beverley told FoxSports. com. “ I violated NCAA rules and what happened went over the coaches’ heads. A lot of people thought it was because of grades, but I go to class every day. ”

Then came the plans for his future.

“ I’m going overseas for a year and hopefully I’ll be able to come back and get picked in the draft, ” Beverley said. “ This was hard because I was working out with the team every day and getting ready for the season. ”

But then, three days later, another twist was thrown into the mix as Beverley denied that he was going overseas — at least for now — in a story in Sporting News Today. He also hinted toward the reasoning of his departure actually being related to an academic issue. In the Sporting News Today report, Beverley said he talked with the coaching staff earlier this month and got the impression from the staff that his ineligibility related to a paper for a class.

He also denied reports that he signed with an agent to go overseas, citing that his mother, Lisa, was handling agents.

“ Really, for me, my focus is on, can I go to school somewhere ? That’s what I want to do, ” Beverley told Sporting News Today. “ I have thought about what it’d be like overseas, but it’s not like I am focused on that yet. ”

Beverley would still like to come back to Arkansas for the 2009-10 season, according to the report.

“ But I understand that it just might not work out that way, so I need to have a backup plan, ” Beverley said in the article.

Beverley’s biography and name are still listed on the UA athletic department’s Web site, which reportedly is not an oversight by UA officials. Athletic officials, including head coach John Pelphrey, are unable to comment on the situation “ due to student privacy laws, ” according to the UA.

For UA basketball fans, the lone good news, perhaps, came this week. The UA formally confirmed that freshman point guard Courtney Fortson had been declared eligible by the NCAA Eligibility Center on Tuesday.

Forward Jason Henry, however, is still awaiting word on his eligibility.

Stay tuned.

For more Razorbacks news, visit The Slophouse, a blog updated daily by Times sports writer Brandon Marcello at www. wholehogsports. com.