Practice Report: Week 1

OXFORD, Miss. – It's officially game week for Ole Miss football. The Rebels practiced Tuesday in preparation for their Week 1 trip to Memphis, and the first practice since the start of school brought good news regarding one of the team's key leaders.

Offensive line coach Jack Bicknell, outside linebackers coach Tyrone Nix, running back Jerrion Ealy and cornerback Keidron Smith each met with the media following practice to provide the latest updates from inside the Manning Center, as well as previewing Saturday's matchup with the Tigers.

THANK GIVENS
The most positive news out of Tuesday's practice came on the offensive line, where Preseason All-SEC tackle Alex Givens returned to action after missing fall camp following back surgery. The leader of the Rebel offensive line, Givens was limited in his first practice back, and his status is still uncertain for this weekend, but Ole Miss is hopeful that the senior out of Nashville, Tennessee, will be able to suit up for Week 1.

"Very excited to see him out there," said offensive line coach Jack Bicknell. "A lot will be determined Wednesday. It's a positive sign that he's out there. Exciting sign. We need to see how he progresses, how much he can do Wednesday. We're hopeful we can get something out of him. He means a great deal to this team."

While Givens' situation is in flux, the rotation all along the offensive line is still in question as well as Bicknell looks to replace three longtime starters in Greg Little, Javon Patterson and Sean Rawlings. Several blockers have made strong cases for key roles up front, but Bicknell said it will take some real game action to determine how the puzzle will piece together in his position room.

"Last year, we all kind of knew where guys were situated," Bicknell said. "Now, it's a day-to-day thing, trying to figure out who are the five best guys. Obviously, we haven't had Alex back, and now we get Alex back. So it really truly is a day-to-day thing, and I think it's going to be a game-to-game thing. It'll be a situation where we play some of those guys, see what our best lineup is, and it may change from game to game until we settle in a little bit and really understand where we're at."

ON THE EDGE
Meanwhile, the new position group on the block, the 3-4 outside linebackers, seems to have solidified a pair of starters in Sam Williams and Qaadir Sheppard. Williams has proven to be a quick learner after coming to Oxford following a fantastic two-year stint at Northeast Mississippi CC.

Sheppard is the only slight question mark after suffering a hand injury early in camp. He'll sport a club on that left hand to start the season, but Matt Luke found motivation for Sheppard from a Hall of Fame source.

"I've been showing him all the pictures of Patrick Willis around the complex wearing the big club, so we've talked about that, for sure," Luke said. "I'm just happy to have him out there. He's a physical presence. If it causes him to drop an interception, I can live with it, but just to go be physical and have his pass-rushing ability out there will benefit us."

The injury to Sheppard also allowed Tyrone Nix's group to build some depth, including an increase in snaps for true freshman Brandon Mack. After a productive camp, Nix is confident in his rotation at outside linebacker.

"We've had a good camp," Nix said. "We had some guys who got banged up earlier, which allowed us to get some more reps for some guys who are a little lower on the depth chart. I think it helped our true freshman Brandon Mack to get a feel for how it plays on this level. But I feel like I've got two or three guys at each position who can go in and contribute."

EASY EALY
Tyrone's brother, Derrick Nix, also has a strong rotation in his position room. The running back group might be the deepest on the Rebel roster with a solid four-man rotation featuring four backs with four different running styles.

"We know Scottie is the main back, and then we'll all get rotated in," said freshman Jerrion Ealy. "Coach Nix is probably going to go with the guy who has the hot hand. We bring a lot of different options to the table. We have four backs who could go out and compete for a starting job at any SEC school. It's wonderful to have three other guys."

Ealy is perhaps the most anticipated newcomer on the Rebel roster, and for good reason. A versatile runner with speed to burn, he'll likely be a key part of the Ole Miss offense, even behind a Doak Walker Award Watch Lister in Phillips. Rich Rodriguez will look to get the ball to Ealy in space in any way possible—at running back, slot receiver and in the return game. Being a highly touted 5-star in-state running back prospect isn't an easy task, but the easygoing Ealy isn't letting it affect him ahead of his collegiate debut.

"It's just like any other game," Ealy said. "Another game that I've got to go out and play. I'm a man who lives by, if you go out and play hard, God will take care of everything."

RebelsCalendar

Players Mentioned

Jerrion Ealy

Alex Givens

Greg Little

Brandon Mack

Javon Patterson

Sean Rawlings

Qaadir Sheppard

Keidron Smith

Sam Williams

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