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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Football Team Practices In Full Pads Tuesday Afternoon
8/12/2003 | Football
Aug. 12, 2003
OXFORD, Miss. - In rather pleasant conditions for this time of year, the Ole Miss football team practiced in full pads Tuesday afternoon on the new Astro-Play surface at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, only going once as part of the new 2-1-2 format.
After completing the first week of practice with one practice a day, the Rebels have moved into the 2-1-2 format for the rest of the early practice period. With the new format, teams are allowed to have two-a-day practices, but most have a day with only one practice between the two-a-days.
During the two-hour session, the Rebels focused on running and passing the ball, as well as numerous position drills. Head Coach David Cutcliffe saw a lot of positives as the Rebels prepare to scrimmage on Wednesday.
"We are still getting better as a football team," Cutcliffe said. "We had a lot of positive work. We will look at the tape and evaluate how many snaps we'll need in the scrimmage."
Senior offensive lineman Justin Sawyer (Centreville, Miss.,) went down in practice with an injury to his right knee, and according to Cutcliffe, preliminary reports indicate he has a strained media collateral ligament.
"It looks like a strained MCL," Cutcliffe said. "It would be a non-surgical situation. It wasn't even a full speed drill. It's a lot better than what I thought it could have been."
On a positive note, redshirt freshman running back Jamal Pittman (Columbia, Miss.) returned to full contact drills Tuesday. Pittman is coming back from ACL reconstruction surgery following spring practice and had been limited to non-contact work until Tuesday.
"Jamal handled the contact well," Cutcliffe said. "He still has to gain confidence and get quicker. He has a lot of work left to do, but from a contact standpoint, he did well for his first day."
The Rebels will work out in head gear only Wednesday morning and then have a full scrimmage in the afternoon to work on various kicking situations, along with plenty of offense and defense. Most of it will be controlled according to Cutcliffe.
Ole Miss will hold "Meet The Rebels" Day Saturday, Aug. 16 at 1:00 p.m. (CT) in The Grove. The Rebels open their 2003 campaign Aug. 30 at Vanderbilt. Jefferson Pilot Sports will televised the game, which kicks off at 11:30 a.m. (CT).
