Lots and lots and lots of stuff to talk about after Tuesday’s practice. Offensive coordinator Paul Petrino and offensive players were available (well, most of them anyway — see below) and there was plenty to cover.

The biggest topic? WR Joe Adams return to practice.

Adams practiced on a limited basis for the first time since suffering the minor stroke the week of the Auburn game. He caught passes with other receivers off the machine at the start of the workout, then did some work with the trainers. Players also told us that Adams, apparently, caught some punts later in the workout when it was closed to the media.

Either way, the fact Adams was back in some capacity was good sign to the Razorbacks.

“It was kind of a start to his recovery I guess you could say,” receiver Jarius Wright said. “He has to start somewhere, so putting back on the pads coming out to practice with us today, it meant a real lot for the team.”

There’s still no timetable for Adams’ return to full speed at both practice and on gameday. Paul Petrino was asked about the potential for Adams’ return and said he’s not the guy to comment on that. However, Petrino said “I’m just happy to see him happy.”

“I hope every day that he’s going to be back,” Petrino said. “But more importantly, I just hope that he’s healthy and fine. So whenever they tell us he’s fine, I’ll be jumping up and down happy as can be. Until then, I just wish him the best and hope he keeps getting better.”

Let’s rundown a couple of other items of interest:

1. Alex Tejada spoke with the media for the first time since Saturday, when he missed two critical field goals in the 23-20 loss. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Tejada, but Alex Abrams did. Look for more from the kicker in tomorrow’s paper.

Tight end D.J. Williams did have a few things to say about Tejada, though. It includes a message to fans.

“That’s my boy,” Williams said. “I can’t understand how hard it could be for a kicker. Everybody says that’s what they do all day, but those are the people saying it. They’re in the stands watching it. They’re not out there doing it. He’s a great character kid. I know he’s going to bounce back. Hopefully we can get our fan support and not everybody bashing them because he is on our team and he’s a part of our family. Hopefully we can get our whole state to back him up and he’ll be just fine.”

2. RB Michael Smith was back on the practice field, but still limited to some extent. In fact, running backs coach Tim Horton said he doubted Smith would’ve been able to play if Tuesday had been Saturday. Smith wasn’t available for comment today to tell us how he’s feeling. But Arkansas will continue to monitor his progress on a day-to-day basis the rest of the week.

3. Paul Petrino said the Razorbacks continue to work hard on their third-down success. Arkansas was 2 of 13 at Florida. The Hogs are 20 of 76 (26.3 percent) this season, which ranks 116th in the nation.

“It’s something we always work hard on, we’ve always game planned,” Petrino said. “We’ve always taken great pride in being real good at it. It’s just something that right now we’re not as good as we need to be and hopefully it will be our coming out week and we light it up on third down.”

Make sure you check out RazorbackCentral.com for more in tomorrow’s paper.

Why is the blog practice report so late? It’s Auburn offensive lineman and former Rogers High star Lee Ziemba’s fault!

Let me explain: I spent about 15 minutes talking to Ziemba on the phone after practice tonight, gathering several items for stories/notes/blogs that I’ll use later in the week. So I couldn’t get to the blog until a few minutes ago. (By the way, I’m not really blaming Ziemba. That would be dumb since he’s much, much bigger than me. I appreciate the phone call Lee!)

Anyway, on to the practice notes:

• Arkansas receiver London Crawford is tired of watching games from the sideline. But if things go well the rest of the week, Crawford might be back on the field against Auburn on Saturday. Crawford said he went through contact work during Tuesday’s practice for the first time since breaking his collarbone during the season opener against Missouri State.

“It felt pretty good to be out there with my teammates, being able to run around,” Crawford said. “The past few weeks I had to be kind of a cheerleader, which I didn’t really have a problem with. But seeing those guys out there running around made me want to be out there making plays with them. For me to be out there running around (Tuesday), making plays with them, it felt great.”

Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said the Razorbacks will continue to be cautious with Crawford, though. He said the receiver did shed his yellow, non-contact jersey during practice. But they want to see what he does the rest of the week before playing him Saturday.

“It means we keep an eye on him all week and see how he’s going,” Petrino said. “He was able to practice today and not in yellow. That was good to see. We’ll judge him each day, see how he comes along and make our decision at the end of the week.”

• Big news: Paul Petrino said the running backs topped the receivers in Arkansas’ bull yards competition. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Arkansas calculates yards after catch for receivers and yards after contact for running backs. The receivers had dominated the competition the first three games, but RB Ronnie Wingo helped the backs Saturday thanks in part to his 62-yard touchdown run.

I was surprised to hear that, especially since WR Joe Adams had such a big day running in the open field after catches. Petrino said Adams did account for plenty of bull yards, but didn’t have much help. (Program note: Check for more on bull yards in The Morning News later this week)

• Arkansas’ offensive line turned in its best performances against Texas A&M. In particular, Petrino said center Seth Oxner played his best since getting the starting job. He added that DeMarcus Love and Mitch Petrus played well, while Ray Dominguez performed better.

“They all probably had their best games run-blocking wise,” Petrino said.

Petrus was tougher when he spoke to the media. He said Arkansas’ line made mistakes that could prove costly against a team like Auburn. “We did all right,” Petrus said. “Better than we did at Alabama. We strive for perfection, but it’s unrealistic a lot of times.”

• Finally, Petrino was asked about QB Ryan Mallett’s development in his ability to make checks and changes at the line of scrimmage.

“He’s done a nice job,” Petrino said. “It’s a process. As the year goes on he’ll get better and better. He’s a smart football player. I think that’s one of his strengths. He does a good job of understanding football and does a good job of checking for us.”

Today is Wednesday, which means I leave tomorrow for Dallas and what should be an entertaining game in a stadium that looks big even on TV. What does a $1 billion stadium look like in person?

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We still have more football to cover in Fayetteville before we leave for the Lonhorn State.

Robbie Neiswanger wrote a story in today’s Morning News about Arkansas piling up penalties over the past few games. The trend has annoyed Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino and left others to scratch their heads. But Texas A&M has seen even more yellow flags this season.

I have a notebook in today’s newspaper. In it, Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino accepts responsibility for last Saturday’s loss at No. 3 Alabama, offensive guard Mitch Petrus goes off on his own offensive line and changes are made to the first-team offense and defense.

The Dallas Morning News has a rather lengthy article on Petrino embracing Fayetteville and Arkansas fans. The (Other) Morning News reporter was in town last week doing interviews for the story.

That’s it for now. But I’ll have more after Petrino speaks at 11 a.m. on the SEC coaches teleconference. And you can follow me on Twitter (@NWAAlex).

I just got back from Tuesday’s practice, and it was interesting.

Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino, who didn’t speak to reporters following Saturday’s 35-7 loss at third-ranked Alabama, took responsibility for how the game turned out. He said he thought he had gotten his players ready for the Crimson Tide, but apparently he hadn’t done enough.

Petrino said it was his fault, which comes after Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino accepted the blame for not getting his players to believe they could beat Alabama.

“We just didn’t get it done, that’s my fault. We didn’t get it done last week, and I take that all on myself,” Paul Petrino said. “I didn’t do a good enough job of getting them ready during the week, but we’re going to be ready to play this week.”

Later, Arkansas offensive guard Mitch Petrus was steaming. He said the offensive line was responsible for the offensive woes against the Crimson Tide, adding that he’s tired of the O-line continuing to mess up.

It appears the Razorbacks want to shake some things up following the lopsided loss. Backup safety Elton Ford and cornerback Andru Stewart were working with the first-team defense during practice. Ford took snaps at sophomore Tramain Thomas‘ spot, and Stewart worked at junior Ramon Broadway’s cornerback position.

There was also some changes along the offense line. Offensive tackle DeMarcus Love was absent from practice, freshman Antony Oden continued to work at offensive tackle and junior Zhamal Thomas moved up to get reps as one of the first-team offensive guards. We’ll see how this plays out during the week.

And finally, wide receiver London Crawford, who has been sidelined with a broke collarbone, practiced in a yellow jersey. Paul Petrino said Crawford hasn’t been cleared for Saturday’s Southwest Classic against Texas A&M, but the senior is coming along nicely.

“He’s not cleared yet, but he’s running around and he looks good running around,” said Petrino, who also coaches the wide receivers. “He’s got those fresh legs. He looks fast.”

That’s it for now. But check back on the blog and on Twitter (@NWAAlex) for more on the Hogs.

A lot has been said and written about the Alabama postgame press conference last Saturday because two big issues/topics emerged.

First, Bobby Petrino’s assessment that the Razorbacks didn’t believe they could win raised eyebrows.

Second, the fact that Arkansas’ offensive and defensive coordinators weren’t available for comment did.

I was able to go cover the first topic in today’s notes, but didn’t get into the coordinator talk. However, Petrino was asked why Paul Petrino, Willy Robinson and John L. Smith weren’t available after the loss. Especially since they’ve been available throughout his tenure – win or loss.

Petrino classified it as a misunderstanding Monday. Apparently, when Kevin Trainor and Zack Higbee — who are in Arkansas’ media relations department — went to get the assistant coaches for interviews Saturday, they were already on the team bus.

“After the game, I did get on the players and I guess the last thing I said was, ‘Guys, lets get in the shower, get dressed, and get on the bus,’” Petrino said. “Coaches did the same thing. By the time Zack came in to get the coordinators, I guess they were on the bus.”

Petrino said he wasn’t keeping the assistants off limits.

“It wasn’t something that, ‘Hey, they’re not talking to the assistant coaches,’ or anything like that,” Petrino said. “We get our butts kicked they need to face the music just like I do. I’d rather say, ‘Hey, I’m on the bus and you talk to the coordinators.’ We can do that if it ever happens again. But it was nothing like that. I said, ‘Let’s get dressed, get on the bus, and get home. And that’s what the coaches did also.”

  Arkansas’ coaches and players just finished talking with the media following Tuesday’s practice. It was the Razorbacks’ first full practice since Thursday, and according to offensive coordinator Paul Petrino, the intensity was good.

  ”I think we need to improve the execution, but you could feel the energy out there and the intensity was real good,” Petrino said. “Obviously, you can always get better on the execution, so there’s a lot of things we need to get down the next two days and our walk-throughs prior to the game.” 

  Here are some quick highlights from practice:

  Arkansas backup quarterback Tyler Wilson said he and starter Ryan Mallett are preparing as if they both might see action in Saturday night’s game against No. 23 Georgia. Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino naturally didn’t want to say how he intended to rotate the quarterbacks, but it sounds like Mallett and Wilson will be used like they were in the season opener against Missouri State.

  Mallett started the game, but Wilson came in toward the end of the first quarter and played the first few series of the second quarter. The redshirt freshman brings a change of pace to the position.

  ”Apparently, we’re going to work like we did last week and it will depend on the game situation, I think,” Wilson said. “I think we’ll both be prepared and we’re just going in with the mindset that we can be in the game at any point.”

   Wide receiver Lucas Miller appears to be improving from the broken collarbone that has sidelined him since preseason camp. 

  ”He’s improving. He got to go through some drills today,” Paul Petrino, though he declined to give a timetable on when the senior might be cleared to play. 

  Early in practice, the rain came and players had to deal with it while working inside Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Apparently, the wet conditions didn’t affect the offense Tuesday.

  ”It was quite a bit of rain, but we threw and caught the ball a lot better tonight. So it was good,” Petrino said. “We’re going to end up playing a game in the rain sometime, so it was nice to see guys running around.”

  Well, that’s it for now. And as always, I guess I’m obligated to give a shameless plug and say you can follow me on Twitter (@NWAAlex).

It’s Friday. You know what that means, right?

Only one more day until the season opener against Missouri State in Little Rock.

Are you getting as excited as this guy?

Friday means something else, too. My notebook is loaded with news, quotes and nuggets that haven’t been used. I’ve got leftovers that need a home. So the plan is to start a weekly feature here on the blog that we’ll call, “Cleaning out the Notepad.”

Granted, none of this will be earth-shattering news, but it will help pack your brain with info before gameday. So let’s get going:

1. This didn’t make it in our notes today, which you can find by clicking this link. But Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino was asked if he told his players to watch the college football games on ESPN on Thursday night. He didn’t. Instead, he was hoping all of them were all in bed. The Razorbacks had an 11 p.m. curfew.

“The biggest thing is that this is the night that you need to get great sleep and make sure that we do a great job of hydrating and getting fluids in us and getting the sleep that we need,” Petrino said.

2. I really wanted to get this in my Michael Smith story earlier this week, but didn’t have room. Did you know Smith was ill during preseason practices? He told us that Monday and said he had dropped some weight because of it.

Smith lost weight in preseason

“I’m gaining it back now,” Smith said. “I got sick during camp. A lot of players got sick during camp. That knocked off quite a few pounds, but I’m slowly gaining it back now and it’s fine.”

Smith entered preseason camp listed at 180 pounds. We’re wondering what he REALLY weighs right now after a month of practice.

3. Keeping on the subject of running backs and illnesses, offensive coordinator Paul Petrino was asked earlier this week about Broderick Green and his performance in last Friday’s scrimmage. Petrino said Green looked pretty good.

“He did a nice job,” Petrino said. “He had some real nice runs in the critical zone. Had a couple nice runs in short yardage and ran with his pads down and was falling forward and looked very powerful. We were real happy with the way he ran the ball.”

Green should get carries in the opener behind Smith and Dennis Johnson. We’ll find out tomorrow how he performs after missing time in the preseason because of pneumonia.

4. There apparently won’t be any suspensions (as of Wednesday) for the opener. Petrino was asked about it on the SEC Teleconference and said there weren’t any. A handful of players couldn’t play in the opener last season for various reasons, including linebacker Freddy Burton (two-game suspension) and Smith (NCAA violation suspension).

5. Arkansas’ defense will be expecting some trickery tomorrow night. Apparently, Missouri State isn’t shy about trying a few things out of its spread offense. So the Razorbacks practiced on defending trick plays this week, but Petrino doesn’t want his team to get caught up in looking for them on every snap.

“The main thing is you have to react to them,” Petrino said. “We don’t want to sit around and look for them.”

6. Alex got a lot of this in the notebook today, but it’s worth bringing up again: Will the Razorbacks shake hands with the Bears before kickoff Saturday night? The American Football Coaches Association has encouraged teams to do so as a sign of sportsmanship. Petrino said he hasn’t been able to make contact with Missouri State about it. Even more, he’s not sure if it’s necessary.

Petrino: "I'm not sure what the point is."

“I feel like there’s been great sportsmanship in college football,” Petrino said. “I’m not sure what the point is.”

7.  Petrino was asked an interesting question on his radio show the other night about how many plays he scripts to open a game. He didn’t give exact details, but gave some insight into what the Razorbacks were planning to do in the opener.

He said roughly 8 to 15 plays are scripted every week. The goal is to get some formations and personnel groups out on the field to see exactly how the defense reacts to them. Arkansas will practice that script all week with the intent of gaining confidence in what they’re running to start the game. Ultimately, Petrino said the goal is simple: “What we need to do is score on it.”

8. Lastly, we’ll have plenty to say from Little Rock tomorrow night. We’ll be blogging some news and notes before, during and after the game here on the Hog Blog. Make sure you follow us on Twitter, too, for all kinds of news and notes.

You can check us out at three places (@NWAAlex, @NWARobbie, and @NWAOnlineHogs).

Just got back to the office after Arkansas’ game week press conference.

Paul Petrino was filling in for Bobby Petrino, who was down in Little Rock speaking to the Touchdown Club. We also got a chance to catch up with RB Michael Smith, QB Ryan Mallett and DE Jake Bequette. Lots to go over. So let’s just get to it:

• Arkansas remembers all too well what happened last year, when they survived a big scare in the 28-24 win against Western Illinois in the opener. Bequette said “no one wants a repeat performance of last year.” He said the Razorbacks are well ahead of where they were last year, but that “kind of a game will leave an impression in your mind for a long time.”

• Smith said he doesn’t know how many carries he’s getting in the opener. He doesn’t know if Bobby Petrino knows how many times he’ll touch it. But Smith is fine with it. With so many backs, Smith said he’s “looking forward to not being exhausted in the fourth quarter or having to get an IV at halftime.” I would look forward to not haing a halftime IV, too.

• The depth chart showed that sophomore De’Anthony Curtis is listed as Arkansas’ second-team fullback. Petrino said Curtis has done a nice job there in fall camp, has done a nice job blocking, and catching the ball out of the backfield. The Razorbacks have some personnel groups where Curtis will line up at tailback, others where he’ll be at fullback.

• Arkansas’ defense apparently had a pretty good scrimmage on Friday night. It was pointed out several times today. Bequette said coaches told them it was “one of our best defensive performances since they’ve been here.” Bequette said the group played with more energy and it went well. Good sign? Maybe. We’ll have to wait til Saturday.

• Paul Petrino said WR Joe Adams is doing just fine and is expected to practice this afternoon. Adams missed time last week with a hamstring injury, but Petrino said he probably could’ve scrimmaged last Friday. Adams is listed as the starter at the ‘W’ spot.

• Team chemistry was talked about a lot today. Petrino said it is “100 times better” than it was last season. He thinks this team is closer and really likes the chemistry right now. Smith said there were some disgruntled players last year, who complained about practice. However, he said none of that exists now.

  Before I begin listing some of the official developments we learned from Arkansas’ second day of practice, I wanted to mention that I learned one very important thing: Sitting in the hot afternoon sun for three hours without a hat and suntan lotion is not a good idea. 

  Now on to official business. 

  For starters, we learned today that quarterback Nick Petrino, Bobby Petrino’s son and a new addition to the team, wasn’t at practice Friday. It’s uncertain if he had class, another commitment or has left the team. I asked Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino about Nick, but he wouldn’t comment on the status of his nephew.

  Want an update on two of Arkansas’ more highly touted freshmen offensive playmakers – running back Ronnie Wingo Jr. and wide receiver Cobi Hamilton? Well, they’ve both shown flashes, but it was apparent Friday that they still have a long ways to go. Both players had trouble holding onto the football. Hamilton dropped a few passes, and Wingo dropped a pass and fumbled on an end-around.

  In case you attended practice, it was easy to see at times that the offense was sloppy, as Bobby Petrino put it a day earlier. The quarterbacks missed on several passes, and the wide receivers dropped some easy throws. Still, Paul Petrino said afterward that he thought practice went better than Thursday, adding that he saw some improvements. I have to admit I didn’t see much.

  This one isn’t a surprise, but running back Brandon Barnett and linebacker Jermaine Love continued to miss practice because of injuries. It’s uncertain when they’ll both be able to return to practice, but in the meantime, they’re doing plenty of conditioning exercises on the sideline.

  Well, that’s it for now. In the meantime, I’m going to get back to writing and enjoying air conditioning. Maybe my sunburn won’t be as bad as I think it will.

It was Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino’s turn to address the media after today’s practice, so we spent a few minutes checking in with hiim about the offense after the Razorbacks’ 13th practice of the spring. Because of some space constraints, we won’t have a notebook in the newspaper tomorrow. So I’m just going to throw some notes up here on the Blog.

• In short, Petrino felt like it was a good day. The Razorbacks were in full pads and took part in some hitting drills early on. They also got in some scrimmage work even though running backs and receivers were not tackled during the 11-on-11 portion of practice.

“I thought some guys got a lot tougher and more physical,” Petrino said. “It will be real good to get in and watch the tape. We got a long run, play-action period, had a blitz period, worked a lot of different things in our team section. I liked the way we came out. We’ve just got keep grinding, keep working hard, keep improving.”

• The spot where I was sitting was closest to a WR-CB blocking and tackling drill during the most physical part of practice. Receivers would try to block cornerbacks, while the cornerbacks tried to tackle ball carriers. It was entertaining. Petrino was asked who has impressed him the most as a blocking receiver this spring. You’d think it was London Crawford, right? Wrong. It’s Joe Adams and Jarius Wright.

Petrino was asked what has made Wright and Adams better this spring and he said it was their effort: “Really at receiver it’s all about effort. If you just fly around and play hard it gives you a good chance.”

• We won’t get a chance to talk to Paul Petrino on Friday, so there was also some discussion about the Red-White Game and what he is hoping to see out there. His answer was no surprise: He wants to see “show time.”

“I’d like to see us come out there and really play with great effort,” Petrino said. “Have real good tempo in and out of the huddle. Have no assignment mistakes. and then just go make plays. We talk about show time and making big plays, that’s what we want to see. We want to see guys making plays and have a real good assignment and a great effort grade and just go out there and be playmakers and make plays.”

• Arkansas running backs Michael Smith and Dennis Johnson both participated in the workout Wednesday. Smith only took part in the team drills early on, staying away from contact. But Petrino said Smith’s return the past couple of days is a good sign.

“Mike is doing great,” Petrino said. “The thing about Mike is that he works hard in that training room and he’s done a great job rehabbing. I think the doctor did a great job on him and he looks great.”