Two players who used to wear the red and blue in Oxford spent last week running routes and taking reps in NFL preseason practices.
Now Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris are trying to talk their way back onto a college roster instead.
Both left Ole Miss for a shot at the pros and both got cut loose within the past couple weeks.
A Louisiana court ruling has since cracked the door open for them to head to LSU for one more college season and the Southeastern Conference already tried and failed to slam that door shut.
My understanding is that the SEC and Greg Sankey will comply with all applicable court orders, including those in Louisiana. This portion of a newly issued order should be sufficient to give schools comfort with rostering athletes despite threatened penalties. SEC is a Defendant. pic.twitter.com/u0dmQPsV5P
— Darren Heitner (@heitner) August 29, 2026
Attorney Darren Heitner said in a post on X this week that commissioner Greg Sankey and the league will comply with the injunction rather than keep fighting it in the short term.
Heitner wrote that “SEC and Greg Sankey will comply with all applicable court orders” tied to the case out of Louisiana.
That statement came only days after the conference had rolled out its own penalty plan aimed at stopping schools from rostering players who had already spent time in NFL camps.
That doesn’t mean the fight is finished. Attorney Tom Mars posted his own take on X this week that “the @SEC legal strategy seems blindingly obvious” and argued the conference still has moves left to make.
ICYMI, SEC tells schools: “Of course we will comply with court orders. Did you think we took a stupid pill this morning? Just go ahead and put those players we said were ineligible on your roster and see what happens.” 💣💥 https://t.co/qLMBajj7y6
— Tom Mars (@TomMarsLaw) August 29, 2026
SEC’s legal fight is far from over
Mars pointed out the SEC could sue in federal court on its own or push a state appeals court to freeze the Louisiana rulings while the larger case plays out.
The stakes for LSU stay high either way.
Reports tied to the SEC’s original penalty plan say a violation could cost a head coach roughly half a season on the sideline plus a fine equal to half that sport’s yearly budget.
LSU actually abstained when the rest of the conference voted 15-0 to approve those penalties in the first place which says plenty about where the Tigers stand on this one.
None of it touches Ole Miss anymore and that’s exactly why folks around the program can watch from a distance.
That baggage left Oxford in December when Lane Kiffin took the LSU job and it isn’t walking back through the door.
The Rebels have a season opener against Louisville in Nashville in a week and that game matters far more locally than whether a couple of former players trade an NFL locker room for a college one two states over.
While the lawyers sort all that out plenty of other former Rebels stayed busy in NFL camps and pro baseball parks this past week.
NFL preseason camps bring more former Rebels into focus
Here’s where things stand across both.
Jonathan Mingo turned in one of the better outings of preseason Week 2 for any former Ole Miss player.
The Cowboys receiver caught two passes for 62 yards and a touchdown against the Cardinals while teammate Sam Williams backed him up with four tackles a sack and a quarterback hit in that same contest.
Out west the 49ers got production from two ex-Rebels at once.
De’Zhaun Stribling hauled in four catches for 46 yards against the Chargers and Jordan Watkins matched him with three grabs for 41 yards and a score of his own.
Linebackers also made noise. Seattle’s Chris Paul Jr. piled up eight tackles including one for a loss against Tennessee and New England’s John Saunders Jr. matched that total with eight stops and a pass defended versus Philadelphia.
Not every story involved a stat line.
Baltimore lineman Diego Pounds put together a strong camp and was later flipped to Kansas City in a trade tied to a conditional draft pick based on how the Chiefs finish the season.
NFL roster moves give way to a busy week in baseball
It’s a landing spot he earned through solid play rather than draft status.
Injuries shaped the week too.
Washington’s Laremy Tunsil is dealing with a torn triceps and cornerback Trey Amos sat out with an ankle problem.
Both issues looked significant enough to affect how their teams handle final roster decisions this weekend.
Add it all up and roughly 44 former Rebels were still on NFL rosters heading into the preseason finale which shows just how deep this pipeline runs even with two names now headed toward a college comeback attempt.
