Razorbacks report

FAYETTEVILLE — Winston takes hit on finger

Just when Arkansas’ defensive coaches felt comfortable enough at cornerback to move Andru Stewart to safety, along comes a freak injury to cornerback Darius Winston.

Winston, a sophomore, apparently injured the middle finger on his right hand during the closed portion of Tuesday’s practice. He had a bulky wrap on the finger and did not suit out Wednesday, though he went through individual drills.

“It was a temporary injury that he suffered on a play,” defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said.

“He had five seconds of jubilation and he had 15 minutes of pain after that.”

Robinson said he felt Winston, who has been engaged in a good battle with Isaac Madison at the field corner spot, would be back at practice relativelysoon. But with Stewart, the ex-cornerback, on his second day at safety, senior Greg Gatson paired with true freshman Eric Bennett as second-team cornerbacks.

Stewart played safety for his two seasons at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, Calif., so the switch to free safety behind Tramain Thomas hasn’t been overwhelming.

“Anything to help the team,” Stewart said. “I pretty much know the defense now, so I’m just trying to get my alignments down.”

Stewart said he’s eating abit more and trying to add a few pounds to his 190-pound frame to deliver a more solid blow at safety.

“I love seeking out contact, and now I get a chance to make a couple more interceptions and stuff, deep in the secondary, so it’s a good fit for me.” Linebackers like it

Anthony Leon and Ross Rasner are embracing their moves to linebacker from safety. Leon, a senior, has gotten a healthy portion of first-team reps at weakside linebacker since the move.

“It’s come kind of natural to me and I like it a lot,” Leon said.

“He’s picking things up well. He’s running downhill,” defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said.

“He’s a naturally instinctive kid, and right now it seems like he likes being that close to the ball,” linebackers coach Reggie Johnson said. “He’s still learning the X’s and O’s part of it, but going and getting the ball, that’s not an issue.

He’s slippery in there and he’s doing good.”

Rasner is working as a reserve strong-side linebacker in base packages and playing pass coverage about half the time.

“You’re down in the box and you’re not 10 yards away from the ball, so you’re in on every single play,” Rasner said. “I like it a lot.”

Johnson listed

Arkansas has yet to announce a starter at tailback, but junior Dennis Johnson was named Wednesday to the Doak Walker Award watch list.

Johnson was one of 49 players on the list for the award, which honors the top running back in the country.

Former Razorback Darren McFadden was a two-time winner of the award in 2006-2007.

Johnson, who rushed for 342 yards last season, is one of six SEC players up for the award, including Alabama’s Mark Ingram, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner.

Each of the candidates is nominated by his school.

Hog tough

ESPN.com’s SEC blogger Chris Low brought up an interesting topic Wednesday, the toughest two-game stretch for each SEC team, and the Razorbacks figured prominently in his speculation.

In fact, Arkansas was one of the two opponents listed on the toughest two-game stretch for each SEC team the Razorbacks play.

Low judged Ole Miss’ consecutive road games at Alabama and Arkansas as the toughest in the league, followed by Mississippi State’s games at Alabama and at home against the Razorbacks. He judged Arkansas’ swing at Georgia and vs. Alabama in September as the third toughest two-week stretch.

Worth noting

Receiver Greg Childs returned to practice after missing Tuesday.

Tailback Dennis Johnson was not on the field during the first four periods of practice, and running backs coach Tim Horton said Tuesday he was “banged up a little bit.”