Ole Miss Faces Heat Of Football Preseason

Photo by Evelyn VanPelt / HottyToddy.com

OXFORD, Miss. – After two mild days, the sun was out and the humidity was high for the Ole Miss football team Sunday in the third day of preseason drills.

After an FCA worship service in the morning, the Rebels trained on the outdoor practice fields for approximately two hours in helmets and shoulder pads. It marked the first time for the players to strap on any pads.

“The sun came out and they got a little wilted,” said head coach Hugh Freeze. “Some people started to feel sorry for themselves. Our mind is not our friend. It will tell us things that we shouldn’t be able to do that we really can. We have to overcome that and be mentally stronger.”

Ole Miss experienced a setback Saturday with junior receiver Vince Sanders suffering a broken collarbone. The Macon, Miss., native will undergo surgery Tuesday at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson by Dr. William Geissler.

“It’s certainly a blow,” said Freeze of Sanders’ injury. “He knew everything we did and could do it a fast pace. He had a great offseason. Hopefully, he only misses three games. We have that opening week early, so maybe he can be back for our fourth game.”

After Sanders’ unfortunate incident, Freeze and the staff are further stressing player safety and cautiousness during these acclimatization workouts.

“We met again as a team this morning and showed them some clips of the things we’re not doing properly,” Freeze said. “Hopefully we can get that through to everybody. I think most people are doing it right. We still have a few that don’t understand it. I don’t think it’s intentional. We have to do something to make sure we are taking care of our team. We’ll show them clips and hold them accountable. It’s a fine line. This is tough game, and we would sure like to be healthy going into our season opener.”

Ole Miss returns to the practice field Monday in the first open workout for the public. Fans may attend team drills through Saturday (August 10), and daily updates of practice locations will be available on Twitter at @OleMissFB. Visitors to campus on weekdays are reminded to make parking arrangements by going to www.olemiss.edu/parking.

–Ole Miss Sports Information