FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas completed its first spring practice under Ryan Silverfield on Sunday and the head coach deemed it a good one when speaking with the media on Monday.

The Razorbacks practiced inside on Sunday due to the weather in Fayetteville. Silverfield was generally pleased with the first practice though he indicated don't read too much into lineup of the players.

"Obviously a great weekend for Razorback athletics," Silverfield said. "A lot of fun. Excited to get spring ball started yesterday. I would have liked to have gone outside but I think the weather dictated otherwise. At least Day 1 in the books. A lot to learn from. A lot of great things and a lot of things we’re going to sit there and say we can improve on. But the right mindset and right approach by the guys out there.

"I thought they attacked the field and the work with enthusiasm, with passion and an understanding of what we want this thing to look like. The details have got to get cleaned up, obviously a Day 1 installation, but then the biggest jump has to be from Day 1 to Day 2, how we go about our business, then obviously Day 2 to Day 3 later on this week when we put on the pads. But pleased with it and excited to watch film with the guys this afternoon and continue to make progress."

The running back room returns junior Braylen Russell and five other scholarship players. Russell, from Benton, was third on the team in rushing last season. He carried 55 times for 286 yards and five touchdowns. Russell also caught four passes for 27 yards.

Joining Russell in the backfield are Memphis transfer redshirt senior Sutton Smith, Michigan transfer Jasper Parker, Bryant true freshman TJ Hodges, sophomore Cam Settles and redshirt freshman Markeylin Batton.

"Let’s start with the running backs," Silverfield said. "Just so you guys know, David Johnson, YAC Johnson, and I have a history. Obviously we were together at Memphis and I’ve been to his high school when he was a head high school coach and he’s all over. Obviously he’s been at Tennessee and Florida State. So great confidence in him coming in coaching our running backs. 

"With that being said, with what he’s been able to do, is a guy like Sutton Smith had a pretty good understanding of this offensive scheme. Now, we’re going to change things, we’re going to have some wrinkles in and obviously continue to improve what we can do offensively with Coach (Tim) Cramsey and the rest of the staff. But Sutton has a good understanding. Now that does not mean that Sutton’s the starting running back. That means he’s going to have those opportunities, but he’s a pretty darn good running back.

"I challenged Braylen Russell, as well, like ‘Hey, I want to see you maximize what you’re doing every single day on the practice field.’ I have to give credit where credit is due — Braylen Russell’s lost some weight. He is a healthier 230-pound running back right now. We’re going to talk to him. Maybe is his best weight 225 or is it 235 and he looks really good and he leans up and can run? I was pleased with his effort because, like I told every single person in this program, even anybody we held over, everybody’s got a clean slate, but you’ve got to go prove it. Braylen, regardless of what was said in the past, has just stepped up and worked his tail off. So high expectations for him.

"And then we’ve got guys [like] Batton and Settles, guys that were part of this program that we have high expectations for, that can do it. You got some of these other running backs. TJ Hodges is a young true freshman that, the first couple weeks it was, 'Man, welcome to college football,' and all of the sudden he's going out there and seeing where he's at. Jasper Parker, the transfer running back that's kind of getting a feel for this system and understanding how we do things in pass protection. So that running back room has guys, I think, that we all feel like are capable. But I do, I do. I'm really excited about what they are. You get to see them running around. Now, what are they going to look like on contact balance come Thursday, you know? And what's pass protection really look like? It's easy when it's one of the position coaches running at him with a bag at 3 miles per hour, right? It's a little bit different when it's a 230-pound SEC linebacker trying to saw them in half, okay?"

Arkansas will practice Tuesday and Thursday at 4:15 each day before taking a week off for spring break.