Real practice begins at Razorbacks don pads for first time

Arkansas running back Maleek Williams goes through practice Tuesday, March 28, 2017, in Fayetteville.
Arkansas running back Maleek Williams goes through practice Tuesday, March 28, 2017, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads has a funny way of describing practices in helmets and shorts.

"I was chastised at one point by a head coach for referring to these practices as this, but we're out there practicing in underwear right now," Rhoads said Thursday. "We've got helmets on, and that's it. There's a lot of things that look good because nobody's striking anybody yet."

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The Razorbacks will start the striking today, strapping on full gear for an 11 a.m. practice that is closed to the public and partially open to the media at the Smith Football Center fields.

Workout No. 3 out of 15 will include live hitting and possibly a limited amount of tackling.

"That's always the thing that allows guys to step up or step out," inside linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves said. "We'll see who comes to the party and who doesn't."

Rhoads said Thursday that fifth-year Coach Bret Bielema had not disseminated the practice plan for Saturday, but he predicted some of the elements for the day.

"There will be full attention to inside run game, you can be assured of that," Rhoads said. "We'll also get enough pass skel[eton] and team run and pass situations. It'll be a very thorough first day in full pads."

Rhoads is trying to revamp a defense that ranked No. 76 in the country and allowed an SEC-worst 7.1 yards per carry in league games.

The Razorbacks return six defensive players who started in the Belk Bowl: defensive lineman McTelvin Agim, linebacker Dre Greenlaw, safeties De'Andre Coley and Josh Liddell, and corners Ryan Pulley and Henre Toliver. In addition, safety Santos Ramirez made seven starts, linebacker Dwayne Eugene had six, hybrid linebacker/end Randy Ramsey had three, and nickelback Kevin Richardson and defensive end Karl Roesler had one each.

A retooled University of Arkansas, Fayetteville defensive scheme, which Rhoads said has worked on only a couple of calls in its transformation to a 3-4 front, will take on a Razorback offense with complete staff continuity from 2016 as well as eight returning starters, including quarterback Austin Allen, tailback Rawleigh Williams and four linemen.

"It's awesome," third-year offensive coordinator Dan Enos said. "We spent ... our offseason studying every play from last year, and all the coaches were back, so it makes it a lot easier to talk about corrections and things.

"Last year, we were trying to teach two new coaches how we called things and how we did things. Now we're going back and refining them. The continuity of having everybody back, and also having a lot of players back who have been in this system now for a couple of years, I think it's a real benefit for us."

First-year defensive line coach John Scott said he's been able to learn a few things from the players at his position group, despite the lack of contact through two practices.

"You can see guys actually do some of the football movements and you can see them get lined up and see them move around and play off a block or two," Scott said. "Obviously you don't see it like you will with pads on, seeing how they react ... because everybody's going to get hit in the mouth sometimes. How are you gonna respond to it? How do you respond to getting cut? So you'll learn all those things when you have pads on."

The Razorbacks are stressing the importance of finishing a play, a series or a game after struggling in that department during their 7-6 season in 2016.

Enos was enthusiastic about what he saw through two workouts in shorts.

"I think both sides of the ball are really locked in," he said. "I know coach [Bielema] has mentioned it several times to people about just the accountability right now in this group. It's a really, really fun group to coach. We obviously have a lot of things to correct, but we have a lot of wrinkles in and things we're looking at.

"I think our guys have a great attitude and they're playing hard. If we can just keep on this pace I think we can get a lot done this spring."

Bielema said the Razorbacks must hold three practices in half-pads without contact before the conclusion of spring drills at the Red-White game April 29.

"Just to show how silly it is, so in the fall, you have to go through a five-day acclimatization, where you go helmets only, helmets only, half-pad, half-pad, and then full pads," Bielema said. "Then suddenly in the spring you can go no helmet, no helmet, full pads. ... It's just kind of comical when you look at the same players and what we ask them to do in the fall vs. the spring."

Sports on 04/01/2017

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