Joshua Clayton
The Ole Miss football team has made it through preseason camp almost completely unbothered by the injury bug. Defensive back Montrell Custis is still not 100% and outside linebacker Qaadir Sheppard will wear a cast on his broken hand, but the Rebels will be able to deploy all the troops when they face Memphis on Saturday.
The one hiccup they’ve had, however, is a major one. Alex Givens had preventative surgery on his back at the start of camp and has been limited for a month now. He’s only been able to suit up for the past two weeks, still unable to go full speed.
The preseason All-SEC right tackle is the leader of the offensive line,f and his limitations will stretch the already young position group thin in the sweltering heat of Memphis at 11 a.m.
The senior has been forced to take half the practice reps he would if he was healthy, putting his football shape in question.
“I have a tendency to not work out, then work out and then I’m really sore the next day so I think that’s what he’s going through,” offensive line coach Jack Bicknell Jr. said earlier this week. “We’re hopeful we can get something out of him that’s for sure.”
Givens is expected to play on Saturday, but won’t have a heavy workload as he continues to recover. This development has pushed a handful of new faces to the front of the line. Other than right guard Ben Brown, Givens is the only Ole Miss lineman with significant experience. Givens has appeared in double-digit games in each of his three years in Oxford.
The Ole Miss starting line as the depth chart shows, from right to left, is Alex Givens or Bryce Mathews, Ben Brown, Eli Johnson, Royce Newman and Micheal Howard.
Four of those six offensive linemen have seen limited time on the field, but will be asked to be flexible in order to maximize their utility in any situation. Each player has moved across the line in practice in case they’ll need to shuffle around on Saturday.
“All of this stuff is still really being determined,” Bicknell added. “Last year I said it, but I think we all knew where guys were situated. Now, it’s literally a day-to-day thing to figure out who are the five best guys.
“When you get to the NFL, that’s exactly what it is. You’re playing left and right, guard and tackle unless you’ve just signed for about $60 million.”
Offensive line is the most overlooked, most important position group on the field and the Alex Givens injury leaves Ole Miss’s front five thin. Worst case scenario for the Rebels would resemble Miami’s loss to Florida last weekend. The young offensive line allowed 10 sacks. Ole Miss probably won’t have that kind of disaster but a limited impact from Alex Givens will be felt.
“He means a great deal to this team. He brings a great bit of toughness to the team,” Bicknell said. “Believe me, I’m a better coach when he’s out there as opposed to when he’s not, I can tell you that.”
