Monk makes happy return

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas offensive coordinator David Lee's face cracked into an ear-to-ear grin.

Coach Houston Nutt was as enthusiastic as ever.

And Marcus Monk? He was happy, too.

"He's got a big smile on his face," Lee said. "We've all got a big smile on our face because Marcus Monk's back."

Well, Monk is at least part of the way back. Still running with somewhat of a limp and appearing tentative on a handful of cuts, Monk, Arkansas' career touchdown receptions leader, made his return from a preseason injury to his right knee in Saturday's 58-10 victory against Florida International.

Monk, a senior wideout who had played one snap all season, played the majority of the first half Saturday, catching two passes for 19 yards. That included a 13-yard touchdown from backup quarterback Nathan Emert.

"Oh, my goodness, it's great to see him back out there," Nutt said. "He goes out there and runs the slant-and-go to perfection, and they bite on it and he catches the touchdown pass."

The touchdown was Monk's most impressive play of the day. Two snaps after an incompletion on a slant route, Monk said he knew the cornerback would take the bait on an inside fake.

As Emert settled into the pocket, Monk made one strong move inside, then went out and around the defender. By the time he crossed the goal line, Emert had lofted a pass that eventually settled into Monk's arms near the right boundary.

"Nathan threw a perfect ball," Monk said. "I just wanted to keep my feet in [bounds] and make the catch for him."

Coaches and teammates said it was Monk who provided a lift to the entire team by returning from two August knee surgeries to try and help Arkansas turn around its season.

"We all kind of rallied around him, and even though he's not 100 percent, he still goes out there and makes plays," junior flanker Reggie Fish said. "Just to see him pushing to get better motivates everybody else. We want to fight for him."

Monk's fight to get back on the field was aided by the fact he went through practices Tuesday and Wednesdaybefore being held out of Thursday's workout. Bolstered by the work he was able to do in practice, Monk went through some drills for his coaches prior to Saturday's game, then got the go-ahead.

"I wasn't expecting anything, didn't have any high expectations," Monk said. "I just wanted to go out there and play hard and hopefully progress and get better."

Monk also overcame the mental hurdles associated with coming back from injury. He said his confidence zoomed after getting hit for the first time.

"My knee is holding up perfectly," Monk said. "It's just mental. The big mental part of it is just having confidence and not being scared to make those cuts.

"Your leg is actually strong enough to hold it, but you don't know it and you've got to get back used to it."

The result was a lot of smiling faces on the Arkansas offense. That included Fish, who joked that he knew all along Monk was a safe bet to score in his return.

"I almost booked it earlier in the day," Fish said.