Thursday marked Arkansas senior defensive end Landon Jackson's final fall camp scrimmage with the Razorbacks, and it's safe to say that he accomplished his goal of playing relentlessly.
Named preseason Second-Team All-SEC selection by the media, Jackson racked up three sacks and added another tackle for loss for an Arkansas defensive group that had eight total interceptions in the closed scrimmage at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
"Landon Jackson was a beast out there today, really played well," head coach Sam Pittman told reporters Thursday. "D-line overall really played well."
RELATED: Notable plays from Arkansas' second scrimmage of fall camp
At 6-foot-7, 280 pounds, Jackson enters the season as one of the best defensive ends in college football, and he let that show against his teammates Thursday.
"I go into every day with a mindset ready to go to work, but just knowing this was my last scrimmage as a Razorback, I wanted to have a day," Jackson said. "And I feel like I had a really successful day. Really just went in with a mindset to play relentless and really, really set the tone for the season. That’s really just how I came out to practice today."
According to stats given to reporters by Arkansas communications, defensive tackles Eric Gregory and Danny Saili both had a sack each in the scrimmage, while fellow defensive tackles Cam Ball and Keivie Rose each added a tackle for loss.
After seeing first team reps at safety during Tuesday's practice portion open to reporters, sophomore safety TJ Metcalf had two interceptions Thursday. His younger brother, freshman defensive back Tevis Metcalf, also had an interception on a tipped pass.
"I’ll tell you what, (TJ) and (Hudson Clark), they’re battling it out back there," Pittman said. "He made some really nice tackles, too. Both those Metcalf kids, they’re hard working guys and football’s important to them, and I love them both.
"TJ is probably more improved right now than a lot of guys on the team. It’s just because of his work ethic. He’s always been a good athlete, but he’s worked his way into a really solid football player. "
WATCH: Pittman, Hasz, Jackson recap second scrimmage of fall camp
Defensive coordinator Travis Williams said Wednesday that he'd like to see his group start fast in the scrimmage after they got off to sluggish start in the first one last week. It sounds like he got his wish.
"I feel like the defense came out with a lot of energy today," Landon Jackson said. "We had a bad start last week, so our biggest thing going in today was really just flipping the script, changing the tone of the scrimmage and keep it in our hands."
While it was an overall success for the Razorbacks' defense Thursday, Pittman made it clear that tackling and penalties in the secondary are things that must improve.
ALSO READ: Arkansas wants to be greedy on defense
"We got to get better at our tackling," Pittman said. "I think we got some pretty good backs, but we got to get better at our tackling. Had too many penalties in the secondary, too many holding penalties in the secondary.
"You got to understand, this is with ones, twos and threes now. So, I’m not categorizing any of them, this is overall as a defense. We have to get better at that. I think that’s about it for an opening statement there."
Arkansas will return to the practice field Friday in preparation for the season opener Thursday, Aug. 29, against UAPB at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
