FAYETTEVILLE — Reporters caught a glimpse of the old Bobby Petrino on the third day of Arkansas’ fall camp.
Late in the media viewing portion of Friday’s practice, the head coach-turned-offensive coordinator ripped into wide receiver Jaedon Wilson during a 1-on-1 period for the wide receivers and defensive backs.
It was kind of an odd sequence, which started with a really aggressive jam by South Alabama transfer cornerback Marquise Robinson. Wilson didn’t even get off the line.
The coaches yelled at Robinson, telling him that wasn’t the point of the drill, and then they lined up to redo it. This time, the corner immediately back pedaled and Wilson easily ran a slant route, which he caught from Malachi Singleton.
However, Wilson stopped as soon as he caught the ball and tossed it back to the GAs who were snapping the balls to the quarterbacks. That angered Petrino, who had already yelled at Bryce Stephens to finish a rep earlier in the drill.
The wide receivers are supposed to turn up field and run a few yards before turning around and jogging back. Petrino reminded Wilson of that and then, when he didn’t, yelled at him to, “Get out!” He wanted someone else to take his spot in the drill.
In Wilson’s defense, he seemed to be confused by Robinson’s back pedal and thought he’d get another do-over, but instead, he just angered Petrino.
It probably doesn’t matter in the long run, but it was a reminder that Petrino hasn’t completely mellowed out. He may not be quite as fiery as when he was the head coach from 2008-11, as Best of Arkansas Sports wrote in the spring, but the old Petrino is still in there.
Injuries Prompt Offensive Line Shuffle
Two offensive linemen missed Friday’s practice because of undisclosed injuries, providing some insight into how the Razorbacks might adjust if players get hurt during the season.
They were without usual starting right guard Patrick Kutas and backup left guard Ty’Kieast Crawford.
Rather than just moving the backup right guard up to the first unit, Arkansas switched things up by sliding Addison Nichols over from center and bringing backup center Amaury Wiggins up with the starters.
Tim Dawn, a walk-on transfer from Baylor, moved up to second-team center and Josh Street – a former walk-on who has spent time at center in the past, but had focused on guard this year – got reps at center with the third unit.
Most of the other changes were simply promoting the backups.
(READ NEXT: Miss our takeaways from Day 2?)
Fall Camp Observations — Day 3
Here are a few other observations from the media’s viewing period of the third day of fall camp…
- It wasn’t quite as hot Friday, with the temperature 92 degrees and the heat index “only” 94 — significantly lower than the 108 on Thursday. That allowed them to begin practice outside after shifting completely indoors the previous day.
- Friday marked the first day the Razorbacks wore shoulder pads, as they continue inching toward moving to full pads next Tuesday.
- In addition to Patrick Kutas and Ty’Kieast Crawford being out, backup defensive end Anton Juncaj missed the practice. He watched practice while sitting on a chair under a tent. With him out, freshman Charlie Collins moved up to the second-team defense.
- During a 1-on-1 period, Taylen Green wasn’t particularly sharp with his deep balls, severely underthrowing attempts to Tyrone Broden and Isaiah Sategna. He did, however, connect on 5 of his other 6 passes in the period.
- At one point in that 1-on-1 period, Jaheim Singletary, Miguel Mitchell and Doneiko Slaughter notched PBUs on consecutive reps. Tevis Metcalf added another PBU later in the drill. There were no interceptions.
- The best catch during 1-on-1s may have been by walk-on Monte Harrison, the former MLB player. He went up and over freshman Tevis Metcalf and used his strength to come down with a deep ball down the sideline. Of course, there’s quite the age difference between those two. Both of them have birthdays this month, but while Metcalf is turning 18 on the 23rd, Harrison is turning 29 on the 10th.
- There were a couple of other nice grabs, including a one-handed snag by Isaac TeSlaa in the middle of the field and Var’keyes Gumms hauling in a pass along the sideline through contact.
- He was still a second-team linebacker during the lone team period seen by the media, but Anthony Switzer was also spotted doing some drills with the defensive backs along with fellow versatile defender Larry Worth III.
- Paul Simmons, the father of freshman linebacker Wyatt Simmons and head coach of Division II national champion Harding University, attended practice Friday, as did former Arkansas standout center Travis Swanson.
Arkansas Football Injury Report
Here’s a rundown of several Arkansas football players who are dealing with injuries…
- LG Patrick Kutas (undisclosed): Was not at Friday’s practice, but no details are known.
- RG Ty’Kieast Crawford (undisclosed): Was not at Friday’s practice, but no details are known.
- DE Anton Juncaj (undisclosed): Watched Friday’s practice while sitting on a chair underneath a tent, not dressed out.
- LB JuJu Pope (hamstring): Pittman mentioned on Tuesday that Pope would be limited for the first week of camp because of a hamstring injury. He has not practiced either of the first two days.
- DB Jaden Allen (knee): Pittman said the freshman had “cartilage repair” done on his knee and that he’s not expected to play this season.
- LB Justin Logan (shoulder): After being limited and wearing a green non-contact jersey, Pittman said he probably won’t play this season.
- OL Zuri Madison (ACL): Missed the spring and will miss the 2024 season with a torn ACL suffered in a scooter accident.
Arkansas Football Depth Chart
Here’s how the Razorbacks lined up during the “fastball starts” team period, which consisted of the first, second and third units running four 11-on-11 plays apiece…
Offense
| POS | First | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Taylen Green | Malachi Singleton | KJ Jackson |
| RB | Ja’Quinden Jackson | Rashod Dubinion | Braylen Russell |
| TE | Luke Hasz | Ty Washington Var’keyes Gumms | n/a |
| WR | Andrew Armstrong | CJ Brown | Isaac TeSlaa |
| WR | Isaiah Sategna | Jaedon Wilson | Jordan Anthony |
| WR | Tyrone Broden | n/a | Davion Dozier Dazmin James |
| LT | Fernando Carmona | E’Marion Harris | Aaron Smith |
| LG | Addison Nichols | Brooks Edmonson | Luke Brown |
| C | Amaury Wiggins | Tim Dawn | Josh Street |
| RG | Joshua Braun | Kobe Branham | Tommy Varhall |
| RT | Keyshawn Blackstock | Joe More | Jonas Nantze |
Defense
| POS | First | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE | Landon Jackson | Quincy Rhodes Jr. | Jon Hill |
| DT | Cam Ball | Ian Geffrard | Danny Saili |
| DT | Eric Gregory | Keivie Rose | Kaleb James |
| DE | Nico Davillier | Charlie Collins | Kavion Henderson |
| LB | Brad Spence | Stephen Dix Jr. | Bradley Shaw |
| LB | Xavian Sorey Jr. | Anthony Switzer | Alex Sanford |
| CB | Jaylon Braxton | Jaheim Singletary | Selman Bridges |
| NB | Doneiko Slaughter | Larry Worth III | Tevis Metcalf |
| S | Hudson Clark | TJ Metcalf | Dylan Hasz |
| S | Jayden Johnson | Ahkhari Johnson | Miguel Mitchell |
| CB | Kee’yon Stewart | Marquise Robinson | Aidan McCowan |
Post-Practice Interviews
Special teams coordinator Scott Fountain, punter Devin Bale and long snapper Eli Stein spoke to reporters after Thursday’s practice:
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