Arkansas took the field for Day 3 of preseason practice Sunday afternoon. Here are a few notes, takeaways and observations from the open portion of the workout:
• There was no action on the turf field today on account of the heat, I believe. It was 90 degrees in Fayetteville when practice began and felt like 97. The offense primarily went through drills on the grass field outside, and the defensive line and linebackers were indoors. Defensive backs began indoors then came out to the grass field for 1-on-1s with receivers.
• There was a New England Patriots scout/rep in attendance.
• Guys in green non-contact jerseys today were defensive lineman Tre Williams and defensive backs Myles Slusher and Kevin Compton. Slusher participated in the work vs. wideouts.
• Through the first three days, I’ve really been impressed with how vocal defensive line assistant coach Demerick Gary is. Jermial Ashley is definitely doing his job in leading the group, but Gary is a terrific voice all throughout position drills. He’s constantly pushing guys and has been very encouraging. I think guys are responding well to him.
• Some of the standouts from the 1-on-1s between DBs and receivers:
Montaric Brown had a couple productive reps, beginning the session with a pass breakup when defending Tyson Morris. He also broke up a pass in coverage against freshman Jaedon Wilson. There is plenty of competition at cornerback, but I don’t see Brown giving ground to anyone.
John David White won the two reps he had, first beating Jalen Catalon on a short crossing route for what would’ve been a moderate gain. Toward the end of the drill, he beat Malik Chavis on an out route and went up to make a nice grab. Wrote this weekend about how teammates have nicknamed him Diesel on account of his energy level, and he heard that thrown his way a lot after his second catch.
Kendall Catalon also had a nice couple of sequences, beating Hudson Clark for a reception on his first rep. It was an over-the-shoulder grab. And he beat Slusher over the middle his second time around.
Some other notable 1-on-1s: LaDarrius Bishop forced an incompletion with Trey Knox as the target; Khari Johnson broke up a pass intended for Darin Turner; Simeon Blair broke up a pass when covering TJ Hammonds; Ketron Jackson beat Devin Bush; and freshman Bryce Stephens looked really impressive running his route and catching a ball matched up against Nathan Parodi.
Knox complimented Stephens’ speed on Saturday. He definitely showed it off in the one rep I saw.