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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Preseason Report 08.21: Drills Move Into The IPF
8/21/2009 | Football
OXFORD, Miss. - With rain in the Oxford area late Friday morning, the Rebel football team took advantage of the Indoor Practice Facility for an early afternoon practice session.
"We went inside today because the fields were too wet," said head coach Houston Nutt. "Thank goodness for our indoor arena. I know I brag on it all the time, but this IPF is really one of the greatest facilities. We take advantage of it."
Ole Miss players went through a spirited goal-line scrimmage toward the end of the afternoon session, and Nutt was impressed with the play of the back-up offensive line.
"We ended with some goal-line scrimmage today that was very physical. Mark Jean-Louis, Brandon Green, Rishaw Johnson, Emmanuel McCray and Bobby Massie I thought really opened up for a few scores down there. That was really encouraging. We let Nathan Stanley throw the ball a little bit more than usual today and rested Jevan (Snead) a little bit more. Shay Hodge had two beautiful catches."
On the injury front, first-team defensive end Kentrell Lockett took a "stinger" to the chin and shoulder during the scrimmage and is expected to miss two or three days of practice. Redshirt-freshman linebacker Jason Jones suffered a slight concussion, but should only miss a couple of days of practice. True freshman receiver Terrell Grant and sophomore fullback Dan Hoffman both returned to practice on Friday.
Nutt said the team will use Saturday's 2:30 p.m. scrimmage (closed to the public) to help determine which newcomers will redshirt or not. Among those he expects to play roles on the field this season (and not redshirt) include Pat Patterson, D.T. Shackelford, Joel Kight, Bobby Massie and Jesse Grandy.
"We'll take a step closer (to redshirt decisions after Saturday's practice)," Nutt said. "It's hard because they're so good, and you just don't know."
Starting Sunday, the team will begin preparing specifically for the Memphis gameplan. The Rebels' season opener against the Tigers will be Sunday, Sept. 6, in Memphis. ESPN will televise the game live with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff.
