After experiencing a season without many major injuries last season, Hugh Freeze is now facing a season-ending injury to junior offensive lineman in Aaron Morris, as he tore his ACL Thursday night against Vanderbilt, and a torn meniscus to sophomore linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche, who will be out four to six weeks.
In the absence of Nkemdiche, the Rebels will rely more heavily on junior Serderius Bryant and will slide junior Keith Lewis over and see what he can do at outside linebacker. With Lewis sliding over some, that will likely mean more reps at middle linebacker for senior D.T. Shackelford.
“I feel we are capable enough,” Lewis said of himself and Bryant carrying the load while Nkemdiche is injured. “With me playing stinger in the spring and Bird(Bryant) having one of the best camps he’s had since he’s been here, I feel good.”
While linebacker was one of the few positions on the team that could absorb an injury, the production of Nkemdiche will not be easy to replace. However, it is the leadership that Nkemdiche provides that could really be where the Rebel defense feels the bigger loss.
“Loss of leadership, loss of a very bright individual,” Lewis says of what the defense will be losing in Nkemdiche.
While Lewis has received his fair share of praise this offseason and his role was well known from the beginning, it was Bryant who would be making a name for himself this season.
Bryant has always been a solid player, but playing behind Nkemdiche can take some of the headlines away. Now, following a solid fall camp, Bryant could be sliding into a starting role in the absence of Nkemdiche.
“I feel great. I feel like the coaches have prepared me the right way to go out and do what I have to do to make this defense a better defense,” Bryant said during fall camp.
Bryant credits his offseason improvements to a new conditioning routine he tested out prior to this season. He ran with skill position players and dieted. While that helps, having learned the defense should also show returns for him.
“I tell you last year, I didn’t know the defense at all. I feel like that’s one of the reasons that I didn’t play,” Bryant said. “I just sat down, broke it down, watched film and went in there and did what I had to do and I learned the defense and now it’s making me better and play a lot faster.”
With the loss of Morris, the Rebels need more of a team effiort.
Against Vanderbilt, they slid sophomore Justin Bell over to left guard and subbed in true freshman Austin Golson at right guard.
For Bell, it wasn’t about returning to the position that he played in high school and getting more meaningful snaps than he has in career, it was about who he had replaced at left guard.
Morris and Bell have been teammates since high school at Callaway High School in Jackson and have remained close at Ole Miss.
“It was devastating,” Bell said. “Coach kind of pulled me off to the side and it was tough holding back tears. He’s like my brother and you never want to see that happen to anybody. I shot him a text and told him we came in together, we have to go out together. We have to go out on top.”
The offensive line also appeared to be a position that could absorb an injury and get away with it and that appears to be the case, although Morris, a starter, is not the piece on the offensive line the Rebels wanted to lose.
As a unit, the offensive line looked to have made an improvement when Bell slid over and Golson assumed responsibilities at right guard.
As for other contributors to help fill the void left by Morris, there will also seniors Jared Duke and Patrick Junen.
“We do have depth,” Bell said. “That’s one thing we have this year and that is depth.”
And the Rebels are going to need it going forward.
