Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy injury is expected to keep him out no longer. The star Kewan Lacy is expected to return Saturday against Vanderbilt after resting a left shoulder injury during the team’s bye week, coach Pete Golding announced Monday.
Lacy left the Rebels’ win over LSU on Sept. 19 in the third quarter with the shoulder injury and missed the following week’s loss at Florida. The injury required offseason surgery on the same shoulder before the season.
What The Team Said About Kewan Lacy
Golding said Lacy rested throughout the bye week without practicing, then returned to limited team and individual drills Sunday night. “Was good for a solid week, not practicing. Practiced last night, came back.
Did individual, did some team sessions,” Golding said in his Monday press conference. “Fully anticipate having him this week.”
The coach cautioned that Lacy will not take a full workload in his first game back. “He’s not going to take the toll of 40 or 50 snaps,” Golding said, signaling a rotation approach to manage the running back’s return.
Running Back Rotation And Backfield Impact
Lacy’s absence exposed depth issues in Ole Miss’ running back room. Backup running backs JT Lindsey and Makhi Frazier managed only 93 yards on 23 combined carries across both games without Lacy, neither reaching 100 yards for the season or scoring a touchdown. Against Florida, quarterback Trinidad Chambliss led the team with 44 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Golding expressed confidence in the rotation. “JT continues to go to work. I think he’s a very explosive player.
I think Makhi runs the football extremely hard,” the coach said. He added that Josh Dye is also in the mix, and those three will share snaps with Lacy going forward based on how the star running back’s health progresses.
Lacy’s Role And Season Context
Lacy, an All-America pick and Doak Walker Award finalist last season, set single-season program records in 2025 with 306 carries, 1,567 yards and 24 touchdowns. This season, he has rushed for 191 yards and four touchdowns on 39 carries (4.9 yards per carry) through three games played.
His return addresses a major offensive need. The Rebels have struggled to establish a balanced attack without their star back, relying more heavily on Chambliss’ passing game. Having Lacy in the rotation should provide more options in the running game.
What’s Next
Ole Miss plays at Vanderbilt on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN. According to CBS Sports, Golding said the Rebels will lean on a rotation approach rather than letting Lacy handle the bulk of the workload in his return.
Reporting from CBS Sports, ESPN and Sports Illustrated contributed to this story.
