Jacquez Jones (Ole Miss Photo)
He’s been slowed by an ankle injury during preseason practice but Ole Miss transfer Jacquez Jones still has an “opportunity” to be ready to play when Kentucky opens the season September 4 against Louisiana Monroe. Jones was Mississippi’s leading tackler last season and could fill an experience void at inside linebacker if he’s able to go. Defensive coordinator Brad White says he is a “quick” learner who should be able to compensate for practice time he has missed.
“He’s an extremely smart football player. Obviously a young man that’s played in the SEC for three years, so football moves at a little slower pace for him. Right now, for the freshmen, everything is warp speed. Things are slower for (Jones), things are slower for a guy like DeAndre Square,” White said.
“Coming off an injury, once they get back healthy, the game speed and the understanding of our playbook, I do not see it being an issue.”
With Jones out, freshmen linebackers Martez Thrower and Trevin Wallace have got a lot of practice time and Wallace has been solid with the first unit.
“I think there’s a lot of potential there. You see the freshman spinning a little bit now that they’ve got class on top of football and we’re sorta starting to get in the game-planning routine,” White said. “There were a few more mental busts than they’ve been having the last couple of times. We’ll need to get that cleaned up but you expect that from a true freshman.
“We’ve talked about it before, the analogy that you’ve got a cup, all through summer the only thing getting poured in their cup was football so they could focus on that. Now you’re pouring school in. Now they’ve gotta find out where their classes are. Now it’s game-planning and things are starting to overflow you so you need to make sure you don’t lose everything.
“But that’s part of it. We’ve just gotta do a good job as a coaching staff not to overload them.”
