Gregory Returns To Practice

FAYETTEVILLE — Early in Arkansas’ practice on Tuesday, sophomore running back Chip Gregory darted through the line of scrimmage and burst untouched toward the end zone.

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino admitted after the workout how much he has missed the sight of the 6-foot-3, 220-pounder in the backfield.

“He looked big,” Petrino said with a smile. “He looks big lining up back there, and it’s good to see a big back running down the field. He’s a little bit gimpy, but he’s pushing hard and trying to fight through it.

“It’d be nice if we could get him some work Saturday night in the Spring Game. He needs to get some live work, get hit, get knocked down and see if he can do it about four or five times in a row.”

Gregory won’t argue with that, as he’s itching to see some scrimmage action just as badly. He missed Arkansas’ first scrimmage with a high left ankle sprain and then missed Saturday’s scrimmage when he went home for a funeral.

He’s just as curious as Petrino to see whether he can truly succeed at running back and battle juniors Michael Smith and Brandon Barnett for playing time. As a senior at American Heritage Academy in Allen, Texas, the former linebacker ran 35 times for 503 yards and seven touchdowns.

For about 15 minutes after Tuesday’s practice, Gregory put in extra time working on his agility.

“The ankle is probably around 50 or 60 percent right now,” Gregory said. “So I’m just trying to push through so I won’t be falling behind. Hopefully, after getting rehab, I’ll be ready by Saturday.”

Not Pleased

Petrino was not happy with the way Arkansas began its practice on Tuesday. He was very vocal throughout the opening stages of the workout and didn’t let up for most of the first half of the two-hour practice.

The sluggishness simply surprised him, and Petrino said he knew he had to act quickly.

“It was disappointing,” he said. “We came back from a hard scrimmage on Saturday, had a couple of days off and I didn’t think we had our focus right. We weren’t going full speed. We had some guys who it looked like were just trying to get through it.

“I wanted to make sure they knew we just weren’t going to do that.”

Ends Switch

After watching film of last Saturday’s scrimmage, Petrino came away impressed with senior defensive end Antwain Robinson.

“Antwain Robinson had his best day (of spring practice),” Petrino said. “He gave us a lot in the pass rush.”

He started Tuesday’s practice the same way and was quickly moved ahead of junior Adrian Davis onto the first-team defensive line. Sophomore Jake Bequette played every snap at the other defensive end on the first team ahead of fellow sophomore Damario Ambrose.

“Bequette is going to be a good player,” Petrino said. “He gives you a solid day every day.”