Monk Returns To Practice -- Sort Of

FAYETTEVILLE -- It wasn't hard to notice the Arkansas player who was surprisingly dressed out for Wednesday's practice.

After all, wide receiver Marcus Monk is one of the Razorbacks' tallest players at 6-foot-6.

Monk, who is still recovering from his second arthroscopic knee surgery, took the practice field Wednesday afternoon dressed in a jersey, shorts and a helmet.

The senior stretched with the rest of his teammates before the start of practice, and he caught passes from a football-throwing machine like his fellow wide receivers.

But Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said Monk's return to the practice field isn't a sign that the wide receiver will be back in the lineup anytime soon.

"He's just getting anxious. He's wanting to get on this field, but he's probably still a little ways (away)," Nutt said. "But he was on the ball machine with his helmet (on) and doing things like that."

The Razorbacks (1-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) would certainly welcome Monk back.

The coaches have been unable to find any consistency at the wide receiver position over the first two games of the season.

And they decided earlier this week to make a change at both split end and flanker, starting freshman Crosby Tuck and senior Robert Johnson, respectively.

It's uncertain when Monk will be able to make his debut this season, but his appearance at Wednesday's practice was at least a promising sign.

As he stretched and caught passes, Monk wore a black brace over his right knee, which he had a second arthroscopic surgery on in late August.

He joked with players and spoke with a scout from the Arizona Cardinals, who visited practice.

Before Wednesday, Monk had mostly watched practice or worked alone catching passes from a machine. But he had never dressed out and stretched with his teammates.

Monk was not made available to the media following Wednesday's practice.