The status of Ole Miss junior defensive back Tee Shepard had been in question for the last two days. There were even rumors flying around that he had intentions of hanging up the cleats and leaving the team.
He made it official Tuesday.
Shepard announced in a statement on Tuesday, citing that the “injuries” and “challenges” he has been forced to overcome has taken away his love for the game of football.
“While we had hoped Tee would continue playing, he has chosen to conclude his career and focus on finishing his degree here at Ole Miss,” Hugh Freeze said in a statement on Tuesday. “He will always be a part of our family, and we hope he continues his platform to impact others.”
Shepard will remain on scholarship through the 2015-16 school year and is expected to graduate in May.
The loss of Shepard is another blow to the depth of the Ole Miss defense that has been hit with a number of different injuries in the recent weeks, including losing senior middle linebacker C.J. Johnson for four to six weeks with a torn meniscus on Monday.
“We hate that we are going to lose him but we support him,” defensive backs coach Jason Jones said of Shepard. “I think he had a sense of peace with it, and as long as he has that sense of peace and that’s the best thing for him then we support him.”
Jones said freshman defensive back Cam Ordway has been taking reps with the second team and did not rule out the possibility of junior wide receiver Derrick Jones switching over to the defensive side of the ball.
“Derrick is an option. As a freshman he started as a corner when I was here, so we do have some flexibility” Jones said. “Derrick is a team player and will do whatever is best for the team.”
The Ole Miss defense has struggled, especially at getting off of the field on third down this year and Freeze made that an emphasis this week.
“We looked at all 37 of our third down plays this year, and we felt that we should have stopped 31 of them,” Freeze said.
The losses aren’t just on the defensive side of the ball for Ole Miss, as Freeze said that senior running back Jaylon Walton, as well as offensive linemen Justin Bell, Javon Patterson and Robert Conyers will be sideline this week due to various nagging injuries.
Freeze did add that he does not expect any of them to be out for an extended period of time past this week.
Freeze also added that Kalio Moore is “probably out” as well.
Ole Miss returns to action on Saturday against New Mexico State, kickoff is set for 11 a.m.
