Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said on the SEC Teleconference last week that his team was in great shape, injury-wise.

Well, it’s a little bit different today.

Petrino, quarterback Ryan Mallett and running back Dennis Johnson met with the media this afternoon and most of the conversation had to do with the health of several key offensive players. Here’s the rundown of what was said:

• We’ll start with WR Joe Adams, who Petrino said suffered a “minor stroke” last week. Petrino said Monday Adams is doing better. In fact, he feels well enough to practice. However, that won’t be happening for now. Petrino said Adams continues to undergo tests and is being monitored by doctors. He doesn’t know how long Adams will be out, but is pretty certain he won’t be playing at Florida on Saturday.

“I’m not sure how long he’ll be out,” Petrino said. “But it will be up to the doctors. But the main thing is, he’s doing good, he feels good, he has no headaches. He feels like he wants to practice. Obviously, he can’t at this time.”

• Adams’ position mate, Jarius Wright, seems to be doing well after leaving early in the second quarter with a concussion Saturday. Petrino said Wright was scheduled to do some exercising today and his performance will determine if he’s ready to go for the rest of the week.

• Arkansas isn’t so sure about Michael Smith, who tweaked his hamstring in the second half against the Tigers. Petrino officially labeled his status as “day-to-day” this afternoon. No word on whether he’ll be out at practice tomorrow. If he doesn’t (and if he can’t play Saturday) that means the Razorbacks will probably lean on its freshmen, Ronnie Wingo Jr. and Knile Davis, to carry the load at Florida.

In non-injury news:

• Petrino said the Razorbacks should be much better prepared for Florida than they were during the 35-7 loss at Alabama a few weeks ago. For starters, Arkansas has put together two important wins. Confidence is up. But Petrino said it will be important to make sure the Razorbacks actually believe they can beat the Gators before stepping on the field Saturday.

“We’ve had two good games back to back,” Petrino said. “We’ve seen ourselves perform well on video. We went out and played extremely well in three phases. It will be the challenge to really believe, everybody in the building, everybody that gets on the plane, believe that we can go win the game. And then play with our technique and play with our fundamentals and match their speed. I think that will be the key to the game.”

• He also was complimented Arkansas’ special teams play for setting up three touchdowns Saturday. Two of them came on Johnson’s big returns. The other came on a kickoff, when Andru Stewart force a fumble that was recovered by Jerell Norton.

“That’s huge when you set up three scores with your special teams,” Petrino said. “You’re certainly winning the battle there.”

We just got through talking to Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino for the last time before Saturday’s game at No. 3 Alabama.

The question on everyone’s mind: Will the Razorbacks really be playing Anthony Oden on the offensive line?

Yes.

Petrino did not name a starter, but said both Oden and Ray Dominguez split reps at tackle in practice this week and will play against the Crimson Tide. Dominguez lost his grip on the starting job because of penalty problems against Georgia. Petrino said Oden continued to improve in practice this week and believes he’s ready for playing time.

“He’s had a good week of practice,” Petrino said. “He’s a guy who has all kinds of talent. Did a nice job in that first game, has been taking reps all the time. But he’s going to be a great football player before its over with. We’ve just got to make sure he’s ready now.”

There’s a couple other things worth mentioning, too:

• Petrino said RB Ronnie Wingo had a good week of practice, too. He’s expecting both Wingo and freshman Knile Davis to play a bigger role against the Crimson Tide. Once again, Petrino emphasized the Razorbacks need to get their running game going Saturday.

• Petrino spoke more about his defense tonight, saying the group’s “stinger was hurt a little bit” against Georgia. He said the defense has responded well in practice this week, but Arkansas needs to “go and have success” down at Alabama to gain confidence.

• There’s a decent chance for rain Saturday, but Petrino said there wasn’t any wet ball work in practice this week. Why? He said the Razorbacks have gotten “five or six days” of wet ball work this fall. Two of those days came last week, when rain chances were good for Arkansas-Georgia.

• Petrino was also asked about Alabama and how it uses nose guard Terrence Cody as a blocking fullback near the goal line. Petrino said Arkansas must keep Alabama off the goal line because its power running game is strong.

That’s all for now, but check out RazorbackCentral.com for more about the game tomorrow and Saturday.

And don’t forget to check the blog tomorrow because I’ll clean out my notebook with all kinds of leftover news, notes and quotes.

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.

  After three days of practicing in the afternoon, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino decided to change it up by going at 9 a.m. today. And for the first time during preseason camp, Petrino had the team practice on the new synthetic surface inside Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

  Here is what we learned:

  Running back Knile Davis returned to practice today after missing the first three days because of the death of his father. The freshman took part in individual drills, but he was held out of team drills. It’s good to see him back after going through what I imagine was a rough week personally.

  Defensive end Jake Bequette continued to miss practice because of an apparent left arm injury. But the sophomore had a scare this morning when it looked like he overheated while doing conditioning exercises by walking the stadium steps. Arkansas athletic trainers had to put bags of ice on Bequette to try to cool him down, but after several minutes slumped on a bench, he was able to walk off on his own.

  While Bequette misses practice, junior Damario Ambrose is getting work with the first-team defense.

  Cornerback Ramon Broadway and safety Matt Harris said the new stadium surface is a lot faster than the grass that was torn up after spring practice. Harris said there’s a little bit more “bounce” in the field, and Broadway said the speed of the field is something he’ll have to get used to. But so far, they like it.

An interesting twist at Arkansas football practice. After spending all morning talking to players and coaches at the team’s media day, no one was available for comment after the three-hour workout.

And I’m not complaining.

We won’t have any new quotes to share, but there were still several things worth noting from the practice field this afternoon. So let’s roll through them:

• The Razorbacks lost one player in practice and it is believed to be offensive lineman Kareem Crowell. I say that because I never saw Crowell go down, but did see a lineman carted off the field. Crowell was on the field at the beginning of practice, but not there at the end. No word on what happened because players and coaches weren’t available for comment. But we’ll find out more on that tomorrow morning.

• Running back Knile Davis was still not on the field after being away for the first three practices because of his father’s death. Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino told us at media day he was expected Davis to be back sometime late this afternoon. So, chances are, we’ll see Davis on the field tomorrow.

• Receiver Carlton Salters had some flair for the dramatic this afternoon. Salters pulled in a pair of impressive, diving catches during team drills. Both of the throws came from Tyler Wilson and were practically in an identical spot on the practice field. Both were easily the catches of the day.

• I saw new punter Briton Forester taking a few field goal attempts today. Alex Tejada continued to handle field goals with the first team, but Forester and Cameron Bryan got their chances too. It as the first time I noticed Forester kicking the ball. He was 21 of 22 on extra points at Palomar College last year.

• Cornerback Isaac Madison picked off two passes (one from Wilson, one from Ryan Mallett) in the span of roughly five plays. It was a nice sequence for the junior, who Petrino has spoken highly of this summer. Madison continues to work with the first team defense opposite Ramon Broadway.

• Damario Ambrose got some reps with the first-team defense during team drills today, while starter Jake Bequette was standing on the sideline. Bequette looked dinged up. It didn’t look like anything serious, but was enough to keep Bequette out for a little while. We’ll let you know how he looks tomorrow morning.

That’s about it for tonight. Arkansas will be back on the field tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

  Arkansas’ media day hasn’t ended just yet, but I have a few minutes free to post a few noteworthy items.

  Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said players have voted on captains. The offensive captains are quarterback Ryan Mallett, running backs Michael Smith and offensive tackle DeMarcus Love. On defense, defensive end Adrian Davis, defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard and middle linebacker Wendel Davis have been picked as captains.

  Petrino said running back Knile Davis hasn’t returned to campus yet, but he’s expected back later today after being away for the past few days to attend his father’s funeral.

  Petrino said that he hasn’t necessarily settled on Mallett as the starting quarterback, insisting that every day is an evaluation process. Mallett has gotten most of the first-team reps in practice, but sophomore Tyler Wilson has gotten some work with the first-team offense.

  Petrino said that the goal posts inside Reynolds Razorback Stadium are yellow instead of white this year because, as strange as it sounds, kickers aren’t fans of kicking into white goal posts. Apparently, yellow goal posts are preferred. 

  With all the competition at running back, Petrino said he wouldn’t be against redshirting one of his sophomore tailbacks – De’Anthony Curtis or Dennis Johnson. Aside from starter Michael Smith, the rest of the running back rotation is up in the air.

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?

  Last night, I stopped by Bentonville High School to speak with Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino before he addressed a large room of fans at a local Razorback Club event.

  Petrino spoke for around 12 minutes to several media members, including myself. I didn’t get a chance to post his answers last night. I apologize for that, but here is the bulk of what he said.

  He discusses injuries, players who stood out during the spring, and of course the quarterback competition between Ryan Mallett and Tyler Wilson.

  Petrino said he has reviewed the film of Saturday’s Red-White Game, and that nearly all of the coaches had finished grading out the scrimmage.

  “You always see a lot more when you watch the video,” Petrino said. “I actually thought maybe we played a little bit better than we did during the game when you come back and watch the video.”

  Petrino said he saw some good individual performances, particularly from the first-team offensive line and defensive linemen Patrick Jones and Jake Bequette. Now the coaches move on to recruiting and evaluating the spring.

  “We’re actually going to have a big personnel meeting Wednesday morning, so we can get everything done and everything right,” Petrino said.

  Petrino didn’t give any details about the quarterback race. He’s expected to meet with the media on Thursday to wrap up the spring, and of course the quarterbacks will be the big topic of discussion.

  In the meantime, Petrino said the competition between Mallett and Wilson has shown that Arkansas has depth under center. 

  “It’s a great thing to have the depth there and the competition. It’s made them both better throughout the entire spring, and they’re both doing things well at times and both struggling at times in other area,” Petrino said. “I thought they both threw the ball well the other night. … They still have a lot to learn, a lot to learn execution wise, but it was great experience.”

  Finally, I asked Petrino if he expected any of the players who missed most or all of the spring because of injuries to not be ready by the start of preseason practice in early August.

  Here is a quick rundown of the walking wounded: running back Michael Smith (hamstring surgery), wide receiver Lucas Miller (torn anterior cruciate ligament), running back Brandon Barnett (broken tibia) and running back Knile Davis (broken ankle).

  And this is what Petrino said about the injured players heading into the fall.

  “I think we’ll all be ready. Definitely Michael Smith will. He went through pregame, he practiced individual (drills) the last week of spring ball,” Petrino said. “Lucas Miller is way ahead of schedule. He’s doing great. We kind of have to hold the reigns back on him, so he doesn’t develop some tendinitis.

  ”Both other running backs, Brandon Barnett and Knile Davis, knock on wood, but we’re told from the doctors that they should be ready to go barring any setback.”

  Well, there you go. Sorry it took me until this morning to get this posted.

In  case you missed it, running back Michael Smith practiced for the first time this spring Tuesday.

The senior, who had been held out because of his offseason hamstring injury, went through several portions of practice and felt pretty good. But he hated watching from the sideline for three weeks.

Smith feels like he has missed out on important timing with the offense. It’s been said he’s the one player who can probably miss the spring and be all right because of his experience and knowledge of the offense, but Smith didn’t agree.

“Any time you’re not practicing, you’re not getting the timing reps for quarterbacks and the O-line and just learning the tendency of your team,” Smith said. “There will be a slight timing drop-off. That’s where the mental factor comes in of me being there, making sure I’m watching, not losing much of anything with the O-line and the quarterback. I think that’s about all I can do at the moment.”

He also hated watching several teammates go down with injuries. Knile Davis, Dennis Johnson and Brandon Barnett have all missed time with injuries. Davis and Barnett suffered severe, spring-ending injuries.

“It’s a horrible feeling,” Smith said. “I’m not even going to lie. When they rushed Brandon Barnett off, I wasn’t excited the rest of the day. That was a hard feeling — especially with him being with me and I’ve known him for awhile. that was hard to stomach with him.

“Knile, he’ll be OK. I think that was pretty tough on him because I’m sure he was like, ‘Man, I could be in high school living it up right now,’ and he didn’t account for the injury. Dennis Johnson, I think he’ll be all right.

“It’s growing pains. Running back is a tough position. You’re going to get banged up. They’re living and learning.”