Patience is a virtue, but most college football fans can’t wait long enough to find out if that’s true.
Especially when it comes to injuries involving their team’s best players.
For Ole Miss, that player is running back Kewan Lacy.
Lacy left Saturday’s game against Texas with a dislocated shoulder, the same shoulder he had surgery on during the offseason. On Monday, Ole Miss coach Pete Golding announced Lacy would miss this week’s game against Auburn.
And based on Golding’s comments Wednesday on RebTalk Live, there’s no timetable for his return.
“It’s a dislocation, which is different than the AC from before. I hate that for him. I don’t really know what that’s going to look like moving forward,” Golding said. “His doctor who did the surgery, it’s the same shoulder, is in Dallas. We’ve sent the MRI and everything to him. So, then it’s the rehab process until we decide what it’s going to look like moving forward.”
Naturally, that uncertainty has already led to headlines raising the possibility that Lacy might miss the rest of the season.
Could that happen? Absolutely. And it would be a significant blow to an Ole Miss offense that’s already had its share of struggles running the football.
But that’s one of the worst-case scenarios, and we’re not even close to knowing whether it’ll come to that.
For all we know, Lacy could be back on the field against Georgia next week. Or he could miss several more games. Or perhaps he won’t play again this season.
The point is, we don’t know.
Golding probably doesn’t know, either. Lacy and his doctors might not have an answer yet themselves.
So rather than getting too worked up about a recovery timeline that doesn’t exist, there’s a more immediate question worth asking.
How does Ole Miss replace its best running back?
At least that question has some answers.
Makhi Frazier, JT Lindsey and Shekai Mills-Knight are about to get their opportunities to show what they can do.
Frazier has been called upon several times this season when Lacy has been unavailable, and he’s generally made the most of those opportunities.
In fact, Golding believes the former Michigan State running back is playing some of his best football right now.
“I think Makhi’s playing at a high level right now,” Golding said. “Getting him in early with some of Kewan’s injuries was good. I think you’re seeing him at a different level right now.”
Frazier figures to get the first opportunity to establish himself as the primary running back against Auburn. But replacing Lacy isn’t necessarily going to be a one-man job.
JT Lindsey was one of the more intriguing newcomers in Ole Miss’ running back room entering the season. The sophomore showed some promise early, but his opportunities have been inconsistent.
Golding offered a pretty straightforward explanation for that Wednesday.
“I think JT played well early. I think he kind of hit that freshman wall a little bit,” Golding said. “I think he had a better week of practice this week. Gives you a little bit of a different skill set.”
Then there’s Shekai Mills-Knight, who might be the most interesting name of the group simply because Ole Miss hasn’t shown much of what he can do.
The former four-star prospect arrived with an impressive combination of size and speed, but he has spent much of the season waiting for an opportunity.
Apparently, Golding believes that opportunity has arrived.
“I think it’s time to get Shekai going,” Golding said. “We’ve talked about that for a couple of weeks. He’s a size-speed guy.”
Ole Miss doesn’t need Frazier or Lindsey or Mills-Knight to become Lacy.
They just have to give Ole Miss enough production collectively to keep the running game from becoming an afterthought.
And against an Auburn defense that will undoubtedly be paying plenty of attention to Chambliss, the Rebels can’t afford to become one-dimensional.
As for Lacy, there will be plenty of time to discuss his recovery once there’s actually something new to discuss.
For now, the Rebels have a game Saturday and a running back room full of players looking for an opportunity.
What they do with it matters a whole lot more than guessing when Lacy might return.
