Jeff Lebby 'loved' watching Jackson Arnold fight back from slow start

Jeff Lebby was one of many that was enthralled with seeing Jackson Arnold put on the Oklahoma Sooners uniform and get to play some football on Sunday.

The Oklahoma offensive coordinator watched as his young star recruit quarterback fought back from a slow start, 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.

That was especially true of his time when working with the projected starters on the offensive line for Oklahoma as well as their top receivers heading into next year.

The young quarterback talked with the media about getting to get some reps in with the ones following the spring game in Norman this weekend. He said they were incredibly supportive in his performance as they gave him the time in the pocket and the chance to make plays.

“It was really helpful for me just working with that one offensive line and those one receivers. Playing with guys that have been there before,” Arnold said. “(It) helped me out tremendously. Gave me time in the pocket where I could just step back and throw it essentially.”

While Arnold likely won’t end up being Oklahoma’s starting quarterback this season thanks to the incumbent Dillon Gabriel, in his opportunity to play with the starting unit during the Sooner’s spring game, the former five-star quite enjoyed the experience considering how much help he got. He’s making believers out of everyone in Norman.

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 on Sunday. Time will tell how much he plays in 2023, but many will be clamoring for him if things begin to falter.

On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this article.