By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com
Ole Miss senior wide receiver Jordan Watkins met with the media on Tuesday after practice as the team heads into a bye week.
Ole Miss (5-1, 2-1 SEC) is coming off a 27-20 win against Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday in which quarterback Jaxson Dart got injured on the first drive and played through it.
“He didn’t look up to his full potential; he was banged up the whole game,” Watkins said. “Dart is a tough guy and he was able to play through it. That’s what you want in your quarterback, a guy who can go out there and give it all out on the line no matter if they are feeling a little bit banged up.”
Watkins added that it was cool to see Dart go out there and battle through that. In the bye week this week, the goal is to get Dart healthy.
Dart being banged up against Arkansas also affects the passing game.
“The timing is just going to be off with his drops,” Watkins said. “Obviously, with it being any kind of lower-body injury. They played straight—the whole game—so the timing is going to be off anyway, just with your quarterback being banged up is going to throw things off anyway.”
The Rebels reach the halfway point of the season with one loss in the season a few weeks back at Alabama 24-10. Ole Miss has bounced back since then with wins over LSU (55-49) and Arkansas.
“Those two wins were huge, LSU at home and Arkansas at home, those are two tough teams,” Watkins said. “Two teams that play physical, two teams who are really good on defense and offense. Arkansas was a huge win for us just because they always play hard, no matter who the opponent is. In the past, we have had problems with them.”
Watkins added that it is good for the Rebs to go into the bye week with a win.
“I remember last year, we lost to LSU going into the bye week. It was kind of like a regrouping for us, this year it’s more like we got to keep stacking and building from the previous wins that we’ve already had,” he said.
Watkins and the Rebels travel over to Auburn to tangle with the Tigers on October 21. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN.
