Photos from practice on Tuesday, August 6th, 2013 at the practice fields in Oxford, MS.
OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss football team went through its second day of spring drills with a two-hour workout inside the Manning Center on Wednesday afternoon.
Head coach Hugh Freeze said the Rebels has had “really good attitude and effort” through its first two days of practice.
“I thought yesterday after watching the film I was real pleased,” Freeze said. “We turned the ball over too much yesterday. Today we had some explosive plays. Still turned it over some, but no question the energy was there.”
Freeze noted that in his third spring as head coach, the team has progressed in terms of depth at several positions and also the preparedness of the players with the conditioning program.
“Paul Jackson, our strength coach, has the best pulse on everything,” Freeze said. “He believes strongly that we have the highest percentage of total buy-in that we’ve had since we’ve been here. I can see that in the way we’re going about practice and handling things.”
Players who have bought in and are becoming leaders include offensive lineman Justin Bell and defensive linemen Bryon Bennett and Fadol Brown.
“Bryon Bennett’s had a tremendous spring getting ready,” Freeze said. “We challenged him and he’s really answered. Guys like that have to step up.”
On the injury front, rising sophomore cornerback Derrick Jones practiced on Wednesday after missing the first day of drills on Tuesday.
The team will strap on pads for the first time during a morning workout on Friday. That practice will be closed to the public.
“I think it’s important that we learn how to handle the day-and-a-half that we have between now and then,” Freeze said about getting ready for Friday. “(We need to use) our beautiful new nutrition center tonight that they go in there and do the right things, refuel their body and get the right treatment. We’re going early on Friday morning.”