Following Ole Miss‘ ninth practice of the spring, head coach Hugh Freeze said he was pleased with how his team picked up the energy after a sluggish start and discussed adding depth to the roster.
Ja-Mes Logan runs the ball during practice. (File Photo: Cain Madden/The DM)
Ole Miss football head coach Hugh Freeze expected his team to come out sluggish Wednesday morning, so in his eyes, that’s how they looked early on in practice, but it didn’t stay that way.
“I wasn’t thrilled with the energy we had,” Freeze said about the Rebels‘ ninth practice of the spring. “We’re getting to that time in spring ball where the tough have to get going. We’re a little beat up, but so is everyone else.
“(I) thought it picked up as practice went on, but it may have been just me. I had my mind made up that’s the way it would be today.”
After the early part of practice, Freeze gathered the team around him and gave them a pep talk of sorts. He spoke to them about “little things.”
“That’s the things that differentiate the good teams from the ones that are really good. Not just football, but life,” Freeze said. “Just trying to make sure midway through the spring, they know what I feel about those things. Just want to remind them.”
Freeze had his squad do an offense versus defense drill that ignited some big plays from both sides of the ball toward the end of practice.
“That was a good second-down-and-7 scrimmage,” Freeze said. “I thought (sophomore running back) Jaylen (Walton) made some good plays, thought (senior quarterback) Barry (Brunetti) had some good decisions. The ones won quite a few of their series. I thought that was some improvement for sure.”
Freeze then pointed to some positions that lack depth, adding that the team is “a few recruiting years away from having the depth you need to play in this league.”
Freeze also said injuries happen when you practice physically like the team has this spring, which means they will have to be careful about how they go about that in the fall.
“We were fortunate last year,” Freeze said of injuries. “We played three receivers pretty much the whole year. Five offensive linemen pretty much the whole year. That’s rare that that happens.”
Freeze said they have no depth at wide receiver, with junior Donte Moncrief, senior Terrell Grant and senior Korvic Neat all out right now with various injuries.
Senior Ja-Mes Logan has moved from inside at slot receiver to back outside to wide receiver this spring. Logan started out wide last season. Freeze called Logan a “swing guy.”
Senior offensive lineman Patrick Junen, who has seen time at both guard spots this spring and has found himself taking many first-team reps due to injuries, has a sprained toe right now. Freeze said he could be out “a few days.”
With Junen’s injury, currently he, Moncrief, Grant, Neat, junior offensive lineman Aaron Morris, junior quarterback Bo Wallace, junior defensive tackle Carlton Martin, junior offensive lineman Darone Bailey and junior defensive end C.J. Johnson are all out of practice.
The Rebels will return to practice Friday at 4 p.m.
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