Ole Miss football gets some good news on injury front before Auburn

Last week’s bye afforded the Ole Miss Rebels a chance to get right in a number of ways. Injuries across the board were an issue post-Texas A&M, but head coach Matt Luke updated the status of the walking wounded in Monday’s press conference.

A week ago, four of the five starters on the offensive line were out recovering from injuries of various extents, freshman quarterback John Rhys Plumlee had a minor procedure done on his knee, and freshman running back Jerrion Ealy was in concussion protocol.

Offensive line

“I thought we had a productive open date,” said Ole Miss head coach Matt Luke during his press conference yesterday. “It came at a good time for us. We were able to get some guys healthy.

Eli Johnson, Ben Brown, and Alex Givens were all able to practice yesterday, so that was a really good sign. They went full contact, and Mike Howard, too. Johnson (ankle, turf toe), Brown (ankle), Givens (knee), and Howard (shoulder) were held out of last week’s practices.”

Quarterback and running back

Plumlee had what was described as a “minor” knee procedure last week, but did not return to the practice field on Sunday. Plumlee continued his rehab treatment on Monday , but “looked really good”, per Luke.

”All the swelling was gone,” Luke said. “I anticipate him being limited on Tuesday then being full-go on Wednesday and him being able to play in the game. That’s what I anticipate. Obviously, you can’t see the future, but that’s what I anticipate, him being limited tomorrow then practicing on Wednesday. I think the open date for sure coming after eight straight games was a good time for him to get healed up.”

This is great news after a large, grey cloud was covering this situation after last week’s game. Despite it not being 100 percent, the Rebels must have this kind of break a game wide open and embarrass several defenders in the open field ability if they want any shot of winning a few more games in 2019.

Ealy, who missed the rest of the Texas A&M game after his 69-yard touchdown scamper, was in concussion protocol, but appears 100% now per the head coach.

“He practiced full, he cleared protocol and he’s full go.”

This is fantastic news for the Rebels because they will desperately need their explosive playmakers ready to go up when facing Auburn and their top-10 SP+ defense this weekend.