FAYETTEVILLE -- University of Arkansas safety TJ Metcalf may run into a former high school teammate when the Razorbacks play the Alabama-Birmingham Blazers on Saturday.
UAB wide receiver Amare Thomas and Metcalf, both sophomores, played together at Pinson Valley in Birmingham.
"We're real close, so I'm ready to shut him down," Metcalf said with a laugh.
Metcalf, speaking with reporters Tuesday, said he had missed a call from Thomas during practice.
"I'm going to hit him up after this," Metcalf said.
Metcalf said the two wouldn't trash talk about the game.
"No, we're not really into that," he said. "We both want to see each other succeed."
Thomas and Metcalf have both started the first two games this season.
Thomas has 8 catches for 58 yards and 1 touchdown after setting a UAB freshman record with 53 catches for 437 yards and 3 touchdowns last season.
Metcalf earned a starting job in preseason camp after playing in every game last season and notching 15 tackles as a reserve on defense and special teams.
"Really I just continue to put the work in and continue to believe in myself," Metcalf said. "I have that chip on my shoulder, that same grit that I came in with.
"Never losing faith and just going out there every day trying to get the starting job. That's how I did it."
Late in camp defensive coordinator Travis Williams said he considered Metcalf a starter, whether or not he actually was in the game for the first play on defense.
"We see him as a starter," Williams said. "He's going to play. He's going to play a lot. And he's earned that right.
"You watch him work his tail off in the offseason, you watch him while we're at practice working his tail off as well."
Metcalf said he played with a starter's mentality last season.
"Because T-Will says we have standards and not starters," he said. "So I just uphold the standard every day and great things are going to happen."
Metcalf made 12 tackles against Oklahoma State last week to give him 14 this season.
Pro Football Focus has an 88.0 tackling grade for Metcalf, which leads all SEC players and ranks third nationally. He hasn't missed a tackle.
"TJ Metcalf has just continued to get better and better and better," Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said. "He is a great tackler.
"I mean, he's had some open-field tackles that a lot of guys don't make."
Senior safety Jayden Johnson said all the players on defense have confidence in Metcalf.
"I can trust him. The defense can trust him," Johnson said. "We know that he's going to do his job, and when the plays come to him, he's going to make that play."
Senior wide receiver Andrew Armstrong is in his second season at Arkansas after transferring from Texas A&M-Commerce.
"I told TJ for sure, he's one of the most developed guys that I've seen on the defense," Armstrong said. "From when he got here to where he is now, it's night-and-day.
"It's like he's a totally different player back there. He's smarter. He knows what plays are coming, when they're coming. He just got better overall."
Senior running back Ja'Quinden Jackson, a transfer from Utah, said Metcalf, 6-1 and 202 pounds, packs a punch.
"Physical guy," Jackson said. "He flies around the field. I don't think he does anything half speed. He goes through the walk-through full speed. He's just full speed.
"It's just go, go, go with him. It's a great addition to our defense. One thing about him, he'll come down and hit you. No matter what, who you are, he'll come down and hit you."
Metcalf will be one of Arkansas' captains against UAB.
"Whenever I announced it I was looking right at him and his face lit up," Pittman said on his radio show. "He came up to me and thanked me and then he said, 'I wasn't expecting that.'
"I said, 'You're playing good, why not?' "
Junior defensive end Nico Davillier said there's never any question about effort with Metcalf.
"I think he's just a hard player," Davillier said. "He's going to go out there and play 110% no matter what.
"I remember he came in as a freshman and he didn't really know that much. But now it's a big difference and I think everybody in college football knows that TJ Metcalf is going to be one of the ones."
Metcalf said he strives to always have quality reps in practice.
"Because I believe that every rep that comes in practice is going to show up in the game," he said. "So I've just got to be intentional with my footwork, hand placement, eyes, all those types of things, to get me prepared for the game."