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Ole Miss Faces Heat Of Football Preseason
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.”
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