Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

9/8/2010 at 9:42pm

FAYETTEVILLE — Freshman Byran Jones impressed teammates and coaches during offseason workouts. He continued to show promise in the lead up to the season opener.

So how did he do in an actual game?

Jones continued to impress, even as he showed room for improvement against Tennessee Tech.

“He’s a man. Bottom line, that’s what he is,” defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said. “He didn’t grade out great assignment-wise, but technique-wise he was outstanding.”

Technique and athleticism helped Jones earn extensive work against the Tennessee Tech first team. He’ll likely continue to see work after recording five tackles and helping provide the team’s linebackers with room to operate.

Jones wasn’t as happy with his performance. He said things could have been better if not for “mental errors.”

Speed of the game wasn’t a problem. He said things didn’t feel much different from practice.

“The speed of the game was just like the speed of practice,” Jones said. “It makes practice just like the game. I was very calm and wasn’t nervous.”

Settling In

There didn’t seem to be much consistency for Jerry Franklin in the preseason. He’d spend a day at middle linebacker, take some snaps on the weakside.

Some days Franklin, elected a team captain before the season, was relegated to the second team.

Apparently he’s settling in just fine now at middle linebacker. Franklin had seven tackles against Tennessee Tech, including two for a loss.

“It was kind of crazy you know,” Franklin said. “I was playing Will one week and the next day I was playing Mike. It was kind of back and forth but I think I am here to stay at Mike.”

Rain: Take Two
Going indoors is an option for the Razorbacks when it rains. But staying outside seems to be the most popular option with coaches right now.

Arkansas worked for a second consecutive day in the rain. Defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said practicing in the elements will be good preparation for game day situations that are less than ideal.

Robinson also said the Walker Pavilion can be a tight fit sometimes.

“[Being outside] doesn’t confine us. Going into the indoor kind of confines us,” Robinson said. “I think our kids operated well. We’ve got to get used to it. We were fine with it.”

Notable
*Remember receiver Marquel Wade, who left school after being at Arkansas for part of fall camp? He’s apparently resurfaced at Milford Academy prep school in New York. Rivals.com lists Wade as the No. 11 prep school player in the country.

*Defensive tackle Zach Stadther was off the scout team for a second day in a row. Still no word on his status after spending last week with the scout team and not dressing with the team.

Quotable
“We tell our players to dream big. … I sometimes dream about playing the piano and singing. It’s probably not going to happen.”
—Coach Bobby Petrino responding to a request from D.J. Williams to put a five-tight end formation into the offense. Petrino and Williams appeared on Bobby Petrino Live on Wednesday.