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.”

  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.