Jackson Arnold reveals area he wants to improve on during summer

Jackson Arnold impressed many in Norman, from Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables to offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby over the last couple of months.

As he prepares for the summer, Arnold has a bevy of things he’s focusing on getting better at before the Sooners ramp up preparation for the 2023 season, which the young quarterback elaborated on with the media.

“Just being really comfortable with the playbook,” began Arnold. “Making it like secondhand nature. Alongside that, getting faster. Getting stronger. … We’re going to be conditioning a lot. We’re going to be lifting a lot in the summer. It’s like our transformation phase. Just getting bigger, getting stronger and faster, and just being super conformable with the playbook.”

Continuing, the star recruit explained how comfortable he is in Lebby’s offense already, to which he reminisced on how far he’s come since January in getting used to everything that’s new.

“I feel really good,” answered Arnold. “Compared to January. I was talking to Coach Lebby about it the other day, how far I’ve come since January with learning the plays, executing them, practicing and what not. I’ve come a long way. I feel really comfortable.

“Had a couple mental busts that I want back, but overall I feel comfortable.”

Moreover, the Oklahoma offensive coordinator watched as his young quarterback fought back from a slow start in the Sooners’ spring game last month, improving and showing his mettle throughout the game. Afterwards, Lebby explained to the media why he was immensely proud of the way Arnold handled himself.

“With the way he started, and the negative plays and kind of the situations he was put in when he was on the field, I love that he was able to battle back and do some really good things there at the end of the game, and put us in position, and make the play on the two-point conversion to go win it for the red team,” explained Lebby. “So was just proud of him for sticking with it.”

When the lights went out, Arnold finished the showing 6-14, which led to 64 passing yards and one impressive passing touchdown. In general, the consensus coming out of Memorial Stadium this weekend was that he made a mark worth noting.

There’s more than enough reasons to be excited about Jackson Arnold’s future with the Sooners, and he gave the football world some more throughout the spring. Time will tell how much he plays in 2023, but many will be clamoring for him if things begin to falter, as he improves himself over the next couple of months.