ON THE WEEK OF PRACTICE

"It’s been a good week of work. It was physical yesterday. We practiced red ball today which is tempo good against good which was really good. I thought it’s been a very focused and energetic week."

ON THE TWO ARKANSAS QUARTERBACKS

"You saw (Ben) Hicks most of the time and you saw (Nick) Starkel a little bit. Again be prepared for both and they are experienced and have played in a bunch of game. You have to be ready for both."

ON BRAYLON SANDERS

"It’s day to day. He was very limited today but he’s day to day. Probably a game time decision. Hamstring. He can run but he can’t open up and burst quite yet. He’ll be a game time decision."

ON THE MESSAGE TO THE TEAM SUNDAY

"Just keep getting better. Just keep working to get better. Teams that end the season better than they start are the ones that are good. That’s what we have to continue to do. Let’s build on the defensive performance and offensively we have guys who are good enough players. Let’s settle in and get ball to the right spot, to our playmakers. Let’s go make plays and build confidence. It sure will be good to be home. In front of a home crowd for the home opener. The message was to let’s go prepare to win a football game. You have to prepare during the week."

ON GETTING MORE OFFENSIVE LINEMEN REEADY TO PLAY

"Bryce Mathews, Nick Broeker, we need Jalen Cunningham and Chandler Tuitt to come on as well. When you have those guys and then Bryce Ramsey is pushing some. You’re looking for any combination of some guys to step up there. I think Nick and Bryce need to play more to keep everybody fresher."

ON NICK BROEKER

"I think he’s prepared well. We need the confidence to stick him in there and let’s go. He’s a true freshman and he’ll continue to get better. There will be growing pains like there is with all those guys playing for the first time. But he plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played and he will continue to get better. He has a bright future."

ON JALEN CUNNINGHAM

"Consistency. He’s a guy you watch in spurts and man he’s good, but you can’t be good and then not be consistent. He can do it. I’ve seen him do it. But it’s doing it on a very consistent basis."

ON DARIUS THOMAS

"He’ll be back to the doctor and they’ll do all the tests again. I’m hopeful it’s good results and he can start practicing. Obviously when it comes to the heart you have to be very careful and make sure but he’s obviously a guy who can help us. We need the results and hopefully he can help us the next couple weeks."

ON MONTRELL CUSTIS' REHAB

"Just a knee and he’s continuing to get better. He’s four weeks behind Jaylon (Jones). It’s just taking him a little long and each individual is different. He hasn’t been full speed live so not sure (how close he is to ready). He has a little ways before he’s ready to go."

ON ALEX GIVENS

"I think he is. Still trying to work him into true game shape and be as fast and as good as he can be, but he’ll play. He played 40 snaps last week and hopefully he’ll play 50 or 60 this week."

ON THE ARKANSAS DEFENSIVE FRONT

"Four man front and and play a little bear. Some cover one which is Chavis. He’s not going to change and he’s good at what he does. They have two seniors in there at defensively line that are very stout and a true Mike linebacker who has been there and very good in the middle. Same thing offensively with quarterbacks and running backs. Very experienced and very good in the middle."

ON JOHN CHAVIS

"We were together two years. He’s an experienced guy who has done it a long time. Experienced coordinator. Been at the battles since we’ve been here whether it’s A&M or LSU or Arkansas. He’s been through it and we’ve faced him several times. Lot of familiarity and a lot of respect as a person and a coach."