Coach Petrino’s Comments

Mark Edwards from Today’sTHV posted some of Coach Petrino’s comments on his blog yesterday, I thought they were worth reposting.  It sounds like things are starting to come together for the Hogs.  I am really looking forward to seeing Ryan Mallett take the field as a Razorback this year.

By the way, if you are interested in learning more about Ryan Mallett, you can go to www.ryanmallett.org.  This is apparently a fan website that is not affiliated with Ryan or the University of Arkansas but has some really good information on it and appears to be well maintained.

Here are Mark’s comments:

Opening comment:
"I liked the practice we had. It was a good, physical practice. It was really the first time we went 11-on-11 and had live tackle. We did a tackle drill the first day in pads, but this is the first day it was really live. It started with the run play action part of it and I thought the first defense got the better of the first offense in that part of it. We went to a blitz session that was even. The last part of it we moved the ball and I thought the offense got after the defense and we gave up some big plays, which you can’t have on defense. We had guys making plays offensively. I thought our offensive line did a pretty good job of blocking up front. We finished with overtime and we won the overtime, which was a good thing.

On Cobi Hamilton:
"Hamilton is very, very talented. He has to stay in there and practice hard and understand how you work. He can make plays. He’s big and fast and has very good hands. He can adjust to the ball and controls his body as well as anybody. He has to learn how to practice on every play."

On the first and second offensive lines:
"Freeman has been practicing real well. We ended up flipping him over and he’s going in Love’s place. I really like the development he’s shown since last spring. He had a great summer and he is a good athlete. When he came in here you hoped he would grow up and become an offensive lineman. I think he’s really done that and made a lot of strides. He still has a ways to go. I still like Matt Hall. He’s made great strides and is certainly big. When you look at the second line that stepped in there today, that’s a big group of offensive linemen. I’m happy with the fact we have a lot of big offensive linemen to work with. They are all working hard and competing. We are grading these guys and whoever practices the best moves up and goes ahead of the other guy."

On tight ends:
"It is a concern. D.J. (Williams) didn’t go. He practice yesterday after he tweaked his ankle and we kept him out today. Chris (Gragg) obviously everyone saw the injury and that’s a major concern with him. I feel bad for him. He’s worked extremely hard. I’m sure it will be a situation where he’ll have to have surgery and be out for the year. Hopefully D.J. will be back at practice soon. He’ll be back when he’s ready. The one thing about him is he knows the offense and we won’t put him out there and have something where he may have something that nags and doesn’t get healed. We need to make sure he’s healed before we put him out."

On Broderick Green’s performance in Wednesday’s practice:
"It was good to see. It was good to see him hit and not hesitate. He’s got to keep working on that. He’s got to hit it hard and use his size and strength. He can’t hesitate and look for holes. He needs to make the holes if it is not there. I thought he did that real well today. He ran through some tackles and when you have big hips like that guys bounce off you and that’s when you can get some big runs. I was happy to see the way he ran the ball."

On Reggie Fish:
"(Last year) it was a decision for his family. He had a family situation where he needed to be able to get home and see his mom on the weekends. He asked me if he could redshirt. That was the best thing for him. He will help us. He can play all positions. He knows what the offense is and has good speed. He can really provide a lot of depth and make plays."