We just returned to the media room after watching the portion of practice open to the media.

There’s a couple of things worth mentioning:

• RB Michael Smith is out on the field practicing after missing Saturday’s game with the hamstring injury. Smith was out on the field last week, but looks much closer to full speed now than he did preparing for Florida. We saw him get in the mix in some early blocking drills for the running backs. I don’t think he did anything like that last week.

• Another return – of sorts — for the offense. WR Joe Adams is in his helment and pads today. Adams wasn’t doing anything on the field. He was catching passes off to the side and working with a member of the training staff. But it was a good sign for the sophomore, who is trying to bounce back after suffering a minor stroke the week of the Auburn game.

• A few more tidbits — 1. CB Rudell Crim is wearing a yellow, non-contact jersey out on the practice field today. Not sure what the exact injury is, but I didn’t see him sit out any of the open portion of the practice. 2. I did not see WR Lucas Miller out there. I know Miller collided with receiver Cobi Hamilton on crossing routes late in the first half, but he did play after that. Not sure what is wrong, if anything, right now. 3. RB Dennis Johnson is practicing after missing the final minutes of the Florida game after having his bell rung. He seems fine.

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).

We’ve got a couple of news items to share from the SEC office this morning.

• Arkansas running back Dennis Johnson has been named the league’s special teams player of the week. Johnson earned the honor after averaging 48.3 yards on three kick returns in the 44-23 win against Auburn. Johnson’s biggest return came on the final play of the third quarter, when he took a kickoff back 70 yards to set up an Arkansas touchdown. The Hogs’ lead had dwindled to 34-23 at the time.

• The SEC has set kickoff times and TV schedule for its Oct. 24 games. The Arkansas-Ole Miss game in Oxford, Miss., is down for an 11:21 a.m. kickoff and will be televised by the SEC Network. It will be the Razorbacks’ first appearance on the SEC Network.

We just got back from Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino’s weekly Monday news conference. He spoke, then quarterback Ryan Mallett, defensive end Jake Bequette and finally running back Ronnie Wingo Jr.

Here’s what we learned:

-Petrino said he’ll find out this week if wide receiver London Crawford is ready to return from a broken collarbone suffered in the Sept. 5 season opener against Missouri State. Crawford has been running in practice and appears to be close to making his return, but Petrino said the senior will have an X-ray to determine his progress.

- Meanwhile, Petrino said running back Dennis Johnson was swollen this morning after injuring his leg in Saturday’s win over Texas A&M. Petrino added that the sophomore will continue to return kickoffs if he’s healthy, but for now, Johnson is sore.

- And the final piece of injury news, Petrino said the plan was to play highly touted freshman Darius Winston in the Southwest Classic, but the cornerback “tweaked” his ankle in practice late last week. Petrino said it’s too early to tell if Winston will get in the game against Auburn, but of course, everyone will be looking for him.

- Running back De’Anthony Curtis has improved so much that Arkansas’ coaches are starting to have confidence in him. Petrino said the sophomore was recently named the team’s special teams player of the week because of his blocking, and it’s gotten to the point where Petrino no longer sees Curtis as a fullback. He’s now a “flyback” because after all what running back wants to be called a fullback.

- Petrino and several of Arkansas’ players said that facing Gus Malzahn’s offense last year when the former Springdale High coach was at Tulsa should help them as they prepare for Saturday’s game against Auburn. In his first year as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator, Malzahn has his new offense rolling in ways it didn’t a year ago. But the Razorbacks will likely pay close attention to what Malzahn did at Tulsa to get ready for this weekend.

Well, that’s it for now. But we’ll have more in tomorrow’s newspaper, as well as on the blog and on Twitter (@NWAAlex and NWARobbie).

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino didn’t intend to call so many pass plays throughout the 48-10 win against Missouri State.

But for whatever reason, he said the Bears kept packing players in the box to stop the run. So Arkansas quarterbacks Ryan Mallett and Tyler Wilson kept throwing the ball. Jarius Wright and the receivers kept catching it. And the result is now a school record.

Not only did Arkansas set a school record for passing yards in a game (447) in the season opener, it can call itself No. 1 in the nation in passing – at least for now. The Razorbacks and Houston sit tied atop the NCAA statistical leader board in passing yards after the first week of the season, which ended with Miami’s 38-34 win against Florida State last night. (What a way to end the week, by the way).

It’s a strange place for Arkansas to be, considering the Razorbacks were a run-oriented offense for years. But it’s clear Petrino has plenty of firepower in the passing game at his fingertips. Consider this: It’s the fifth time Arkansas has thrown for more than 300 yards in the 13 games he has coached. Arkansas had only 16, 300-yard passing games prior to Petrino’s arrival last season.

Let that soak in.

Anyway, in addition to Arkansas sitting atop the NCAA in passing yards, here’s a few more statistical rankings to consider:

TEAM STATISTICS

Total Offense: 591 yards (No. 7 in nation)

Rushing Offense: 144 yards (No. 62)

Scoring Offense: 48 points (No. 16)

Rushing Defense: 82 yards (No. 37)

Passing Defense: 123 yards (No. 23)

Total Defense: 205 yards (No. 21)

Scoring Defense: 10 points (No. 33)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Passing Efficiency: Ryan Mallett – 210.25 rating (No. 5)

Passing Efficiency: Tyler Wilson -153.64 (No. 32)

Total Offense: Ryan Mallett – 311 yards/game (No. 19)

Receiving Yards: Jarius Wright – 139 yards/game (No. 12-T)

Kickoff Returns: Dennis Johnson – 57.5 yards/return (No. 2)

Arkansas running back Dennis Johnson was named the SEC’s co-special teams play of the week this morning.

Johnson picked up the honor after returning the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown in the Razorbacks’ 48-10 win against Missouri State on Saturday. It was the second kickoff return touchdown of his career. He had the game-winning return in Arkansas’ 30-23 win against Tulsa last season. Johnson shares the honor with Florida’s Brandon James, who had an 85-yard return Saturday.

Johnson was on the only Razorback to earn a weekly honor from the league. Quarterback Ryan Mallett, who threw for 309 yards in his Arkansas debut, was included among players who had other “outstanding performances” during the opening weekend of play.

Here’s a list of the SEC’s honorees:

SEC FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (Games of Sept. 3-6)

OFFENSIVE: MARK INGRAM (Running Back – ALABAMA)
DEFENSIVE: TREVARD LINDLEY (Cornerback – KENTUCKY)
Co-SPECIAL TEAMS: DENNIS JOHNSON (Tailback – ARKANSAS) and  BRANDON JAMES (Athlete – FLORIDA)
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: CHRIS SCOTT (Tackle – TENNESSEE)
DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: DEVIN TAYLOR (Defensive End – SOUTH CAROLINA)
FRESHMAN: ONTERIO McCALEBB (Running Back – AUBURN)

We know that Arkansas running back Michael Smith is going to be a very important piece in Arkansas’ offense.

But we also know that Smith won’t be the Razorbacks’ only weapon, which is what it looked like last season when he carried the offense and, in the process, ran his 5-foot-9, 165-pound body into the ground.

Arkansas is planning to take some of the load off Smith this season and we should get our first look at how much beginning with Saturday’s opener against Missouri State. It’s something I explored in the story I wrote for this morning’s paper. You can find it by clicking this link. We don’t know how many carries Smith will get, but it’s clear he will have more help with Dennis Johnson, Broderick Green, Ronnie Wingo, Knile Davis and De’Anthony Curtis all looking for opportunities this season.

I didn’t have space for everything in the story, but wanted to explore how the other backs could be used.

It’s actually something Smith described during Monday’s press conference.

“Our coach, he’s a situational-type coach,” Smith said. “Whatever situation we’re in may call for a different type of back. If I’m tired, we need a long one or a draw or something like that, Dennis would be in. If we need two or three yards, Broderick would be in. If we need somebody to hit the corner fast, Ronnie would be in.

“So there’s a lot of room for everybody to play in different situations. He’s just going to put the backs in whatever situation that they could probably produce the best results.”

Bobby Petrino talked about it last night, telling us he’s not sharing his plan. I wasn’t able to use the entire quote in the story, but here is some that was left out. You can get a feel for what Petrino is thinking as Arkansas closes in on the opener.

“We have different personnel groups that we can call out to get Broderick Green at tailback, to get Knile at tailback or to get Ronnie Wingo at tailback,” Petrino said. “Dennis, I just put him in. He’s a guy that I can just throw in there because he knows everything, so there’s times when I put him in.

“And that’s what we really did the last two weeks, what we worked hard on the last two weeks. That’s why the coaches were off the field, on the sideline in the scrimmages and really worked on how we’re going to substitute, what the process is going to be.”

So with that said, any guesses on who will have the most carries and rushing yards during the opener?

If it was Georgia week the answer is easy: Smith. But what happens if Arkansas jumps out to a big lead in the first half against Missouri State? Does Smith take a seat to rest for Georgia? And if he does, he gets the bulk of the carries behind him?

Should be interesting to watch the game and see the boxscore when it’s all over.

We got a lot of info from special teams coordinator John L. Smith last night. Some of it made it in the notebook in today’s paper, some of it did not. But it’s worthwhile to break down how things are shaping up a little more.

Smith said Arkansas is about “80 percent solid” in regard to personnel decisions on special teams. He said there still are some changes that will be made, however. So at this point, here’s a look at which direction Smith and the Razorbacks seem to be leaning at a few of the most-talked about spots.

Place Kicker: Alex Tejada — This is no surprise because Tejada is the most talented of Arkansas’ kickers. The question is whether or not Tejada will deliver. He had a better day last Saturday. One that Tejada said gave him some more confidence as the season gets closer. But he knows it’s just one day. So he’s not dwelling on it.

Punter: Briton Forester — John L. Smith has been up front from the start about his punters. Forester has some Division I experience and that means a lot to the Razorbacks right now. They don’t want to lean on true freshman Dylan Breeding if they don’t have to. But both punters have been inconsistent this preseason.

Punt Returner: Joe Adams — The receiver REALLY wants to return punts. He’s hoping his 85-yard TD on Saturday convinced Smith he should. Adams told Smith after the big return he was the man for the job. Smith’s response – “As quick as he looked, he kind of looked like the guy.” Don’t count out Michael Smith yet.

Kick Returner: Dennis Johnson — Johnson returned kicks last season and did it well. It didn’t look like he was going to be the man again early in camp because so many were trying out, but he may have gained the edge. Smith Smith indicated his resume makes him the leader. “He’s a nice looking body coming downhill at you,” Smith said. “That’s what you want, coming downhill and not wavering much. It’s not a dance deal, it’s a hit it deal.”

Arkansas reported to campus on Aug. 5, started practice Aug. 6, and, by my calculations, have spent at least 30 hours in the past 10 days on the field.

So it’s no surprise the Razorbacks are pretty happy to get some time off.

Arkansas left the field at about noon today and won’t be back until Monday morning at 9 a.m. Safety Matt Harris said it’s a much-needed break for a team that has been going pretty hard for a week-and-half.

“A lot of people think physically we’re beat down and we are,” Harris said. “But mentally, I’d like to just get away and not put the cleats on for a day and not put the pads on. Just get in and study film and just kind of act like a normal human being for a day and not have to worry about all my checks and coverages.”

The Razorbacks don’t have the day completely off Sunday. The team will be around for meetings and will watch film of Saturday’s scrimmage. But it’s the fact they won’t be on the field, in the heat, colliding with each other that had running back Dennis Johnson pretty excited.

“It’s going to feel good,” Johnson said. “We’re get a lot of time off. We just come back (Sunday), meet and watch film.”

Johnson was asked what he was going to do with his down time. Simple: “I’m fixing to go to sleep.”

Quarterback Tyler Wilson has other plans. The sophomore will celebrate his 20th birthday tomorrow and said his parents are in town to help him celebrate. Wilson said he was planning to go to dinner with them tonight, then will try to get some rest before beginning another week of practice.

“We’ve worked hard the past two weeks,” Wilson said. “He has given us a day off. I think we’re all going to take full advantage of it. Go home, get some rest and preapre for next week.”

I’m close to polishing off some notes that will appear in Sunday’s paper (or online at RazorbackCentral.com a little later today).

Lots of stuff to try to fit in, but can’t get it all. Much of the space I have was devoted to AD Jeff Long’s comments about the Razorback Foundation and future plans for facilities at Arkansas. So that’s what brings me to the blog.

One thing that stuck out that won’t be used in the notebook is something running backs coach Tim Horton said Thursday.

We all know Arkansas is going to be loaded at running back. Broderick Green is eligible and will compete for playing time with Michael Smith, Dennis Johnson, De’Anthony Curtis, Knile Davis and Ronnie Wingo. There won’t be enough footballs to go around. We know this. That’s what makes the preseason so critical for most of these running backs.

But Horton said there will be other ways for these guys to get on the field this fall: Special teams.

“One thing we’d like to see the running back role expand is in the special teams,” Horton said. “Those are some key plays that the running backs need to be on the field and making them. Whether they’re return guys or protecting on punt (team) or covering a kickoff. If you produce, you’re going to get on the field.”

Johnson obviously held the biggest role on special teams last season, averaging 22.1 yards and scoring one touchdown on kickoff returns. Smith returned five punts for 44 yards last year as well, but I’m guessing he won’t be used in that capacity this year. Is there a chance Wingo could be used as a kick returner, too, because of his size and speed.

Most of these guys won’t carry the football as much as they want in Arkansas’ crowded backfield.

But, according to Horton, they will have opportunities to make an impact. Will they make Arkansas’ special teams — special?