Practice Report: Ole Miss practices in late afternoon heat in soft shoulder pads

Ole Miss held its second practice of fall camp in August heat late Thursday afternoon in shorts, soft shoulder pads and helmets.

After it was reported on another Ole Miss site that offensive linemen Nate Kalepo and Julius Buelow may not have been at practice yesterday, it was required viewing of us to see if they were at practice today.

They were, but. . . .

Kalepo is in a black jersey signifying no contact. We found out he was in a car wreck recently and is in concussion protocol. He should be released soon. Buelow was practicing full speed in the red jersey the offense is wearing at practice.

There are a few more players in black jerseys, but we have discovered that there isn’t anything wrong with some of them – they are in black for precautionary reasons and because they have nothing to prove right now. You will have to determine who is truly injured and who is “resting” because we were not given that info.

Others in black included wide receiver Jordan Watkins, cornerback Trey Amos, defensive end Princely Umanmielen, defensive tackle J.J. Pegues, defensive tackle Jamarious Brown and defensive end DeeJay Holmes Jr.

After quarterback Austin Simmons hurt his arm during baseball season a lot of people were curious if he would need an operation and if he would be able to throw during football. The answers were “no” and “yes.” Austin is throwing dimes at practice and doesn’t look limited with the type of throws he is making – short with high velocity or deep with plenty of distance. Sigh of relief for the talented freshman.

Wide receiver Deion Smith attended practice today in street clothes. He’s waiting on transcripts and “tracers” from the different schools he has attended. There is a possibility he will get his physical tomorrow, but it is doubtful he will be cleared to practice. Early next week is the best guess, and it is a guess. We have seen these scenarios get resolved in 24 hours and others take two weeks, but this one seems to be moving along at a decent pace.

While returning starters Trey Washington and John Saunders, Jr. and transfer safeties Key Lawrence, Yam Banks and Louis Moore have gotten most of the attention so far, don’t sleep on safety Jadon Canady, who transferred to Ole Miss last year from but was injured most of last season. He is smaller than what the coaches desire at 5-10 175 pounds, but he’s caught safety coach Wes Neighbors’ eye in spring and thus far this fall because he is getting quality practice reps and making the most of them by making plays. Don’t be surprised if he is in the safety rotation or gets nickel back duties.

Daniel Demery came to Ole Miss as a safety last season, but it looks as if the coaches are looking at him now at linebacker. The 5-11 205 pound Demery from Flower Mound, TX, is a redshirt freshman and has plenty of time and room to grow into the position.

Last spring, true freshman defensive end Cam Clark was not able to practice due to offseason surgery. The 6-3 250-pounder still is not practicing – his rehab from surgery has not been completed, but we learned today he should be coming off the injury list in the next two or three weeks if everything continues to go in the right direction.

Freshman DT Jeffrey Rush, who was in a black jersey most of spring, is healthy and looks to be getting reps at defensive end. At 6-1 265 pounds, he looks quick off the edge. Maybe he has found a new home.

True freshman DT Kamron Beavers is every bit of his listed 6-3 and he looks 260 pounds, but he also looks a little thin for work in the trenches. The guess here is that he needs 20-30 pounds to be a contributor, but looks can be deceiving. We’ve seen small guys excel in the trenches before, it’s just rare. They have to have exceptional quickness and we haven’t seen enough of Beavers to know his skill set yet.

In one-on-one passing drills, the defensive backs wear bit mitts that look like oven mitts. Why? Those gloves keep them from holding and teach them not to reach for a handful of a receiver’s jersey.

The media’s next practice access will be Monday for a practice that is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.

Stay tuned. . . . .

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