Reprimands have been a topic of discussion on the SEC teleconference today.

In the past week, three SEC coaches — Bobby Petrino, Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin and Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen — were all reprimanded for comments made about officiating. Petrino was asked about his comments, which were made on his weekly TV show after the Florida loss, and whether he knew he would get in trouble.

“I didn’t really, I guess, know (the TV show) was part of it,” Petrino said. “I tried to do as good as I could with my press conferences.”

“Obviously, I made a mistake and something I’m not very proud of. That’s something I take very serious. I think it is a big part of your responsibility of being a coach. I will make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Welcome to Oxford.

We’ve arrived to Ole Miss, and after eating some bread pudding and what I believe is pork, I’ve taken my seat in the press box of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Arkansas went through warm-ups a few minutes ago, and running back Michael Smith was taking part. The senior missed last week’s game at Florida because of a hamstring injury, and he was limited in practice this week.

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said Smith would be a game-time decision, but the tailback appeared to be trying to get warmed up on the field. We’ll have to see if he’s able to play. If not, look for sophomore Dennis Johnson to get his second consecutive start.

Other than that, it’s pretty quiet. There are still plenty of seats available 14 minutes before the game. And unlike many of the Houston Nutt games I’ve covered over the years, there are no banners flying overhead.

Make sure to follow us on the blog and on Twitter (@NWAAlex and NWARobbie) for frequent updates during the game.

And the saga over the officiating crew that worked last week’s Arkansas-Florida game continues.

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino was reprimanded by the SEC office for publicly criticizing the officials. Here’s what the league office had to say:

Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive has issued a public reprimand to University of Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino for his public comments earlier this week.

“Coach Petrino has violated the Southeastern Conference Code of Ethics,” Slive said. “SEC Bylaw 10.5.4 clearly states that coaches, players and support personnel shall refrain from all public criticism of officials.”

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino spoke to the media for a few minutes following Thursday’s practice, which ended earlier than usual.

The biggest news to come out of Petrino’s news conference is that Arkansas running back Michael Smith (hamstring) was able to practice at full speed for the first time this week. The senior has made progress over the past few days, but Petrino indicated that Smith is still a game-time decision for Saturday’s showdown at Ole Miss.

“He was running full speed. He probably took 30 percent of the reps, which is a lot of reps for a running back,” Petrino said of Smith. “The thing will be how he responds to it and how is (Friday), whether it swells.

“This is really the first day he’s burst and went full speed. If nothing happens as far as his response to pushing it that hard, then he should be ready to go. If he has a setback, then he won’t be ready to go.”

Petrino said wide receiver Joe Adams, who has been sidelined since suffering a mild stroke, was able to get some limited work in during Thursday’s practice. Petrino said he should know more about the sophomore’s status after he meets with experts in Little Rock next week.

“He came out this week, and (the doctors) allowed him to run around on Tuesday. Wednesday they let him catch some balls. He didn’t do a whole lot out there today,” Petrino said of Adams. “I think he got to catch a few balls, but we don’t do as much individual work. He did some stuff on the sideline. He’s got a trip to Little Rock next week, and we’ll know more after he goes down there.”

That’s about the gist of it, but we’ll have plenty more in Friday’s newspaper and on the blog. And again, you can follow me on Twitter (@NWAAlex).

Plenty of reaction and quotes to share with you regarding the suspension of the SEC officiating crew today.

1. Let’s start with Bobby Petrino, who commented about it in an Arkansas press release:

“We took the appropriate steps to address any issues we had with the league regarding this matter earlier in the week,” Petrino said. “Our focus as a football team has been and remains on this weekend’s game against Ole Miss.”

2. A little more reaction from Arkansas. This from athletic director Jeff Long, who Tweeted about the decision earlier today:

“I respect Comish Slive for the action he took today, I appreciate his leadership. We have moved on, focused on Ole Miss in Football.”

3. Arkansas defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard (who was the subject of the penalty, non-penalty) was told he couldn’t comment about the situation today. However, he did offer this when pressed a little more after practice.

“I think everybody came out and played hard no matter what happened with the calls and stuff like that. I think everybody competed well, and there’s a lot of intensity in the game and aggression that’s a part of game. And I thought we brought that to the table against Florida.”

4. Mike Fish of ESPN.com did a good job of getting in touch with referee Marc Curles, who is the leader of the suspended crew and also the man who threw the flag on Sheppard. Here is what Curles told ESPN.com. You can find the entire story by clicking this link

“I understand people are passionate about their teams,” Curles told ESPN.com. “Like I said, we sign up for this. I admit I made a mistake in this ballgame. I deserve a little bit of people getting on me. I am getting on myself.”

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino and several players finished answering questions from the media a few minutes ago. And while they all admitted how tough last week’s 23-20 loss to second-ranked Florida was to swallow, they’re anxious to move on and prepare for Saturday’s much anticipated game at Ole Miss.

Here’s what we learned from today’s news conferences:

-Petrino said he doesn’t have any other options at kicker other than Alex Tejada, who had two costly missed field-goal attempts in the second half of the Florida loss. Petrino said the former Springdale High star simply has to boot the football through the uprights. It’s as simple as that. It appears the Razorbacks are going to live or die by Tejada, who has been shaky during his time at Arkansas.

-Petrino said there’s really nothing Arkansas can do about some of questionable officiating in Florida. He said the team submits questionable calls to the SEC’s office on a seemingly weekly basis, but there’s no recourse that can come from that. Petrino seemed hesitant to talk about the officiating because, of course, it can never go well for a coach. But he said he was disappointed that an offensive pass interference penalty wasn’t called against Florida when wide receiver Riley Cooper appeared to take out cornerback Andru Stewart in the end zone.

-Petrino said running back Michael Smith is improving, but he won’t know more about the senior’s status until tonight. Smith missed the Florida game with a hamstring injury, allowing sophomore Dennis Johnson to get the bulk of the carries. Johnson wasn’t able to finish the game because he took a hit to the head, but he should be fine. Finally, Petrino said there’s hope that wide receiver Joe Adams could return this season, but he’s just not sure. The sophomore has been sidelined since suffering what was described as a minor stroke.

There’s the Cliff Note version of what was said. I’ll have more in Tuesday’s newspaper, as well as perhaps on the blog and/or Twitter (@NWAAlex).

Usually, my notebook is loaded with football leftovers. But this hasn’t been a normal week.

Basketball duty pulled me away from football practice on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Alex Abrams was there for the entire week, but it has left me searching for some leftover stuff worth sharing here on the blog. The good news? I think I found some.

• We all know that Arkansas running back Michael Smith will be a gametime decision before of his hamstring injury. It’s a situation Florida has been keeping track of, apparently. Florida coach Urban Meyer said earlier this week the Gators are paying attention to Smith, especially since he played so well against the Florida defense last season.

“I guess he’s got a little hamstring injury that we’re keeping an eye on because that’s how much respect we have,” Meyer said. “He ripped us apart last year. I’d never really heard of him until we played him, and I saw firsthand a hard guy to tackle, has great acceleration through the hole. They’re a big zone running team, and he’s perfect for it. No, we think he’s one of the top five backs in the league, no question.”

• Remember what Arkansas did with its punt return team last week? The Razorbacks dropped both Jerell Norton and Michael Smith back deep to catch the ball the entire game. Well, I asked John L. Smith about it on Wednesday night and he said it was something the Razorbacks came up with because of what the Tigers did. Auburn’s punter shaded the ball to the side and was getting extra yards on the roll.

“If we can eliminate the 10-, 20- and 15-yard rolls, then that’s going to save us and make us a lot of ground,” Smith said. “I told them our goal this week for us is to not let a ball hit the ground and we did that. Even though it doesn’t show in the stat as a 10-yard return or whatever, it shows up.”

No word on if the Razorbacks will try the same thing Saturday. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

• Arkansas LB Jerico Nelson has gotten plenty of publicity this week. And he deserves it, too, after his performance against Auburn. But there’s another reason for Arkansas’ defensive resurgence the past couple weeks. S Elton Ford has been back in the lineup and playing well. Defensive coordinator Willy Robinson was asked about Ford on Wednesday night.

“I think he’s done a great job tackling,” Robinson said. “There’s still some liability with him in pass coverage. But I think he’s doing a great job of tackling the catch, showing up on the run. He’s starting to stay on his feet when he tackles and great tacklers do do that. They stay on their feet when they tackle. That’s something he’s made great strides in since these last two games as opposed to the last couple of games he played”

• It doesn’t really need to be said that Robinson and the Razorbacks have plenty of respect for Florida QB Tim Tebow. Who doesn’t, right? Well, here’s what Robinson had to say about Tebow and the way he leads the Gators’ offense even after the concussion.

“He runs that offense and he loves being the leader of that offense,” Robinson said. “So regardless of his injury or what it once was, he’s still going to be that competitor. So even though they might say, handoff, or be cautious here, that’s not part of his nature. His nature is to compete and compete and compete until the final bell.”

• Arkansas WR Greg Childs has really played well this season. His performance against Auburn was even more important because the Razorbacks were without Joe Adams and Jarius Wright. Childs will be needed once again against Florida. Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino explained how much confidence Childs has and how important he will be against the Gators.

“Childs right now, he’s begging guys to come up and press him,” Petrino said. “That’s how you want it. You want to have that type of confidence. Come on and play me man and I’ll get the opportunity to make plays. More times than not he’s made the play and we’ve been pretty accurate with the throws. It balances out and opens up your run game. That’s kind of the balance you see. When you run the ball better, you can throw it better. When you can beat man coverage and beat one-on-one coverage, then that allows you to be able to run the ball better because they have to get out of the man coverage.”

• Finally, how does Arkansas feel about playing the No. 1 team on the road? The Razorbacks are looking forward to it, of course. Here is QB Ryan Mallett’s take from Monday’s press conference.

“I mean, there’s always a little bit extra when you’re playing a ranked team, getting ready to prepare for it,” Mallett said. “And then coming in No. 1 and playing the No. 1 team, it’s a big deal for our program. We need to go out there and come home with a win.”

If all goes as planned, this will be the last you hear from me today. I’m hoping to take the rest of the day off after a busy, two-sport week.

If that’s the case, I’ll check back in with you from Gainesville, Fla., tomorrow.

Make sure you follow us here on the Blog and also on Twitter (@NWARobbie, @NWAAlex and @NWAOnlineHogs)

There are still plenty of questions surrounding the status of wide receiver Joe Adams, who has been sidelined since suffering what was described as a mild stroke early last week. But Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino provided more details today on what led to Adams being diagnosed with the stroke.

“Well, what happened was on a Monday he had a severe headache and he had had a previous history of migraines. So he took some migraine medication, got better Tuesday, felt good,” Petrino said on an SEC coaches teleconference. “Wednesday, (he) went into the meeting room and then kind of really got a bad headache. The lights were bothering him, so we took him up to the training room and brought him down and got an MRI.”

Adams has attended the past two days of practice dressed in his jersey, but he’s not wearing any pads and has been limite to watching his teammates go through drills. But by all indications, his spirits are at least up.

“Joe’s doing good. I mean, he’s feeling really good. His headaches are gone completely,” Petrino said. “He’s out at practice, walking around (Tuesday) wishing he could practice. And all the tests are coming back very favorable.

“I just don’t know what the timetable is, and that will be a discussion with the doctors and everybody that’s working on it. But he’s feeling really good. It’s good to see a smile on his face, and the fact that he’s doing good, going to class, wants to be in the meetings, wants to come out to practice, all of that is very positive.”

Whenever we find out more information on Adams’ status, we’ll pass it along.

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino spoke to the media following Thursday’s practice, which was held indoors because of the rain. Practice also started early, so the players would have more time to get their legs fresh in time for Saturday’s 11 a.m. game against No. 17 Auburn.

Petrino said wide receiver London Crawford has been cleared to play Saturday after being sidelined since breaking a collarbone in the Sept. 5 season opener against Missouri State. The senior has practiced this week without wearing the yellow jersey reserved for injured players.

Crawford’s return gives the Razorbacks another wide receiver to count on. In addition, he should give sophomore Greg Childs a much-needed break during games, allowing him to stay fresh.

“London is ready to play. He had a good week,” Petrino said Thursday evening. “He practiced a lot yesterday and today, caught the ball well, understands what he’s going to do. So he should be available to play. How much he plays is yet to be seen. It will be great to have him back because now he can keep Greg fresh and keep his legs fresh. You know, London’s been very productive for us.”

Petrino said there wasn’t any discussion about redshirting Crawford, who has played every season since arriving at Arkansas as a highly touted freshman in 2006.

“We feel like he’s ready to go, and he wants to play,” Petrino said. “And he’s not interested in a redshirt.”

The status of freshman cornerback Darius Winston, meanwhile, is more uncertain. He has been bothered since tweaking his ankle in a practice last Thursday. Winston is a backup who could give the Razorbacks some help in the secondary.

“Darius did all right today. He’s still limping a little bit at times on his changing directions,” Petrino said. “We’ll really have to see how he does tomorrow.”

Finally, Petrino was asked for his opinion on recent comments by former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville that Arkansas will lose by three touchdowns on Saturday. Coincidentally, Petrino worked as Tuberville’s offensive coordinator at Auburn for one season.

But Petrino wasn’t interested in getting into a war of words.

“I don’t have any thoughts on that,” Petrino said.

That’s it for now, but check back later on the blog and on Twitter (@NWAAlex) for more updates on the Razorbacks.

In case you work in an office that has no TV and missed Bobby Petrino’s appearance on ESPN’s College Football Live earlier this afternoon, there’s no reason to worry.

Here’s a transcript of the approximately two-minute interview between Petrino and College Football Live host John Saunders:

Coach, first of all, let’s look back at last week. What was so evident about your offense that Ryan Mallett was able to put up four touchdown passes? It really broke out last week.

“Well, it really helped when we got the running game going. We were able to sustain some run game, and that allows us to throw the ball down the field. And our offensive line really did a nice job in pass protection. And anytime you give Ryan some room in the pocket, where he has space and he can step up into his throws, he’s going to be very good.”

Ryan as a transfer from Michigan, of course, did it take awhile for him to understand your offense?

” You know, we were fortunate that he came here about a year and a half ago and redshirted. So he’s been through two spring balls and a fall. Ryan’s a real student of the game. He loves football. He loves preparing, so he’s actually picked it up very well.”

I know coaches don’t like to look too far ahead, but your next three games are Auburn, Florida and Ole Miss, all ranked teams. That’s quite a gauntlet you have to run.

“Yeah, we can’t look ahead. We just have to look at Auburn otherwise I’ll never sleep at all. And Auburn’s a very good football team, and we’re really looking forward to the game Saturday.”

Gene Chizik, of course, is known for his good defenses. Do you think your offense will be able to put up some points against ‘em?

“Well, we’re going to have to. We’re going to have to score points because they’re very good on offense. They have a very balanced running game and passing game, gives us a lot of problems to defend their run because they can throw it also. So offensively we’re going to have to go score points and be able to keep up and get ahead in the scoring.”

Coach Petrino, thanks a lot and continued success.

“Thanks, John, I appreciate it.”