Notes from Ole Miss football practice: Monday, August 8
Monday was the first day media covering the Ole Miss football team had an opportunity to see the 2016 Rebels.
Keep in mind, the players—who only officially reported yesterday—weren’t even practicing in pads today, so any prognostications regarding who is going to play at what position is premature, at best.
That being said, we have a few observations from today:
Offensive line:
Though the Rebels lost o-line players such as Laremy Tunsil, Justin Bell, Aaron Morris, Ben Still and Fahn Cooper from last season’s team, the cupboard is still quite well-stocked.
Practicing with the first-string offensive line were left tackle Alex Givens, left guard Javon Patterson, center Robert Conyers, right guard Jordan Sims and right tackle Sean Rawlings. Jeremy Liggins did not practice with the team today due to a “violation of team standards,” according to head coach Hugh Freeze.
Rod Taylor took second string snaps behind Givens. Star recruit Greg Little did not work with the first team; however, since he has literally just arrived in Oxford, that’s not surprising. We can tell you — he looked as good as advertised.
Running backs:
At the running back position, redshirt freshman Eric Swinney took first team snaps. Akeem Judd worked with the second team, while Jordan Wilkins was with the third team. Again, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the players aren’t even in pads yet, so it is impossible to speculate on who will start at the running back position. In his post practice press conference, Coach Freeze made it clear he is pleased with all his running backs.
Defensive LineÂ
We saw Marquis Haynes, D.J. Jones, Breland Speaks and John Youngblood on the defensive line. Fadol Brown, who is recovering from an injury, had his walking-boot removed today and did not practice. However, Coach Freeze indicated that Fadol is progressing well.
Injury updates
In other injury news, defensive back Tony Conner practiced today and appeared to show no ill-effects of the two surgeries he has had to repair an MCL he tore in last year’s game against Alabama.
Center Robert Conyers, coming off surgery to repair an ACL, participated in all drills today. Wide receiver Damore’ea Stringfellow (ankle) and offensive lineman Rod Taylor (shoulder) also went through all drills and appeared to have no difficulty.
Quarterback:
Chad Kelly, who broke 17 school records in his first year as Ole Miss quarterback, has picked up where he left off last season. The Rebels’ senior signal-caller looked bigger and stronger and was as accurate as ever with his throws. His leadership skills are without question.
Freshman quarterback Shea Patterson worked out with the second string offense and Jason Pellerin with the third. All the Ole Miss quarterbacks performed at a high level, especially considering today was only the second practice of the season.
Coming soon:
The Rebel Walk was fortunate to interview many of the Rebels following practice and will bring those to you soon–so stay tuned!
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
