HottyToddy.com’s Daily Ole Miss Sports Roundup

HottyToddy.com is giving readers a roundup of all the commentary and information about the Ole Miss Rebels from various publications around the Web.

Readers will be able to check out the latest information in a single post every day throughout the year. Here at HottyToddy.com, we are doing all the leg work to find the information that people may want to hear about Ole Miss sports.

Today’s roundup features OMSpirit.com, ESPN and USATODAY.com.

Patterson, Pellerin showing glimpses of life after Kelly

Hugh Freeze
Photo by John Bowen

The Rebels held their first full-pad practice Saturday, and starting quarterback Chad Kelly didn’t participate due to a groin injury. The task of moving the offense fell to Patterson and redshirt freshman Jason Pellerin — a preview of an intriguing battle sure to ensue this time next year, but also what could be should anything happen to Kelly.

Patterson is a former five-star prospect. He was rated the No. 1 overall quarterback in the country by Scout.com, and he enrolled at Ole Miss in January.

“Pleased,” head coach Hugh Freeze said. “Shea’s not a normal freshman. He’s got a good understanding of the game, but there’s still times that it moves a little fast for him because everything’s new. You’re installing stuff each day. Jason’s very athletic and big and strong. Chad didn’t take any snaps Saturday, and I thought those two handled it fairly well.”

But save for some good plays here and there, defense dominated the day, though the offense somewhat returned the favor Tuesday, including touchdown runs of 70 yards and 35 yards by running backs Jordan Wilkins and Akeem Judd, respectively.

The up-and-down nature of practices can be attributed to a retooled offensive line experiencing growing pains as it looks to replace both of its starting tackles. Laremy Tunsil, who started 28 games over three seasons and allowed only two sacks, roamed the Manning Center practice field, stopping a few times to observe Jeremy Liggins and Alex Givens. He’s gone now, as is Fahn Cooper. Liggins and Givens are among those who are expected to factor into the offensive line rotation in some capacity next season.

Courtesy of Ben Garrett and OMSpirit.com

Issac Gross and the Comeback Trail

Issac Gross
Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics

Ole Miss DT Issac Gross was sidelined last year with a major neck injury that required a disk fusion. Five months later and the talented Gross has been cleared for “everything but contact” and he’s optimistic about the recovery path he is on.

“I feel great, man,” said Gross after Thursday’s spring practice. “I put my helmet on Wednesday for the first time since the UT-Martin game and it felt good. It’s tough being away from a game you love and are so passionate about, but I never had a doubt I would be back. I am blessed.

“I can’t have any contact right now, but I am healed up, I’m doing what I can in drills and doing my best to lead these guys on both sides of the ball.”

Gross said he got hit “funny” – in the ribs –  in the UT-Martin game and he knew immediately something was wrong.

“I felt partially paralyzed on my left side as I was coming off the field – real numb. I had had a bulging disk before but the hit knocked it out of place and it spiked my spinal cord,” he stated. “After that, (DL) Coach (Chris) Kiffin thought I was going to sleep in film meetings, but I told him it wasn’t that. I hurt so bad and was getting dizzy from watching the films so I would just shut my eyes to see if the pain would go away. It didn’t. It was like I had a crick in my neck all the time and there were times I couldn’t hold my head up.”

Courtesy of Chuck Rounsaville and the OMSpirit.com

Why Ole Miss TE Evan Engram put his NFL dream on hold

Evan Engarm

When Evan Engram was younger, he used to draw pictures of himself running the football and write out “Sports Illustrated” at the top.

So as he looked at this year’s Ole Miss spring guide for the first time and saw a picture of himself, along with teammates Chad Kelly and Tony Conner, he was honored. No, it wasn’t Sports Illustrated. But he was still on the cover, and that alone was something to be proud of.

“I love representing this school and being a leader,” Engram said. ‘Being able to be on a cover like this, any magazine or even a story with [ESPN], it’s an honor. It’s a blessing. Just being able to represent this great university and this great team, it’s pretty cool.”

Before Engram got to Ole Miss, donning the cover of a magazine or even a spring guide seemed pretty far-fetched. In high school, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound tight end spent the bulk of his sophomore and junior seasons blocking for teammate Kenyan Drake, a four-star athlete who signed with powerhouse Alabama. The Crimson Tide never offered Engram a scholarship.

Instead, Engram had offers from the likes of Furman, Marshall, Navy, Ohio and South Alabama. His only other Power 5 offer was from Wake Forest.

Courtesy of Greg Ostendorf and ESPN.com

Eli Manning narrates touching video on the legacy of his brother Peyton

In this video, which was written by Tom Rinaldi and narrated by Eli Manning, you get to look back and see the development of a young Peyton Manning … right from his first spirals in the backyard.

Manning reflects on family and football, and there’s plenty of footage of the young brothers that’ll make you go d’awwww.

And yeah, it’s treacly, but whatever the dude is retiring today and we can be treacly for this day.

https://youtu.be/HyCQby6r0zA

Courtesy of Nate Scott and USATODAY.com

Follow HottyToddy.com on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat @hottytoddynews. Like its Facebook page: If You Love Oxford and Ole Miss…