FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Two days after suffering four cracked ribs, a chipped vertebra and facial lacerations Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino was back at practice watching from the press box. Offensive coordinator Paul Petrino observed that it wasn’t the toughest thing he’d ever seen his brother do.
“I saw him play in a game with a blown out knee in college,” Paul Petrino told reporters. “So I’ve seen him do a lot of tough things but there was no question he’d be here.”
The younger Petrino said he had taken notes earlier in the day to make sure he ran things from the field the way his brother wanted. Still the two communicated via a walkie talkie and whenever Bobby Petrino saw something that needed to be addressed he let Paul Petrino know about it.
Several of the Razorbacks admitted that while they knew their head coach was a tough guy they were impressed by his quick return to practice.
"He had a cracked vertebra and he still stood up in front of the team and addressed it so that just shows how tough he is and he expects that from us," senior running back Knile Davis said.
"I heard that he had those cracked ribs and had hurt his neck pretty bad," senior tight end Chris Gragg added, "but I know coach Petrino. He's a tough guy. He's preachin' to us and he's just showing it."
Bobby Petrino's boss, Athletics director Jeff Long, admitted that he tried to talk the head coach into taking more time off before returning to work but he said he was okay with the decision since doctors had signed off on it.
Bobby Petrino's appearance at Tuesday's workout wasn't window dressing. He told reporters that he will be at work early on Wednesday morning.