When Ole Miss battles No. 6 LSU this Saturday, it’ll be doing so short-handed. At Rebel head coach Hugh Freeze’s weekly press conference Monday, he named a laundry list of injured players, and most of them will miss this week’s game.
First and foremost, the health of junior linebacker Serderius Bryant has been a big topic of discussion since he was carted off the field on a stretcher this past Saturday with what looked to be a neck or head injury.
Luckily for Bryant and Ole Miss, Freeze said Bryant suffered only a concussion, but Freeze was overwhelmed with the support coming from fans of Ole Miss, Texas A&M and other schools around the SEC.
“It reminds you that the goodness of people is still out there,” Freeze said. “Even though we battle extremely hard in recruiting and in games for victories, a lot of people still recognize there’s a lot more that’s more important.
“We appreciate those prayers and thank God that all he has suffered is a good concussion. He certainly had one and was knocked out, which caused all of the concern. When a kid is knocked out, you’re not certain exactly what the extent of injuries could be.”
Freeze said Bryant was at the team meetings on Sunday and has already started the protocol testing to get back on the field.
The defense has taken the biggest hit due to injuries. Other than Bryant, the list includes freshman defensive end Robert Nkemdiche, junior defensive end C.J. Johnson, sophomore corner Mike Hilton, sophomore safety Chief Brown, sophomore defensive tackle Issac Gross, junior defensive end Carlos Thompson and freshman linebacker Temario Strong are all on the walking wounded list.
Offensively, just senior running back Jeff Scott and senior quarterback Barry Brunetti could miss time due to injury.
Freeze said Brunetti will probably play this week, while Scott will definitely miss today’s practice and be re-evaluated after that. He also said Gross will probably try to go, but everyone else is either doubtful or worse for the matchup against LSU.
“It’s part of the game,” Freeze said. “You sure hate it. You hate it for the kids. You fear that because of our depth issues that we won’t be able to adequately represent the progress that we’re making against these top teams. That’s part of the game. We won’t blink. We’ll get everybody ready that can play. I know they’ll compete with great passion for our university Saturday evening.”
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