Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin updates availability ahead of game, jabs Ed Orgeron with ‘sissy blue’ comment

Mississippi head coach Lane Kiffin speaks to reporters during the NCAA college football Southeastern Conference Media Days Tuesday, July 20, 2021, in Hoover, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Lane Kiffin will be back on the sidelines for Saturday’s game between Ole Miss and Austin Peay.

The Ole Miss coach missed Monday’s win over Louisville because of COVID-19 protocols.

“I have no symptoms,” Kiffin said during the SEC’s weekly teleconference. “I’m great now. I will be back for the game, so I’m excited about that. That was strange, obviously, not being there. Winning and not being in the locker room with the guys was strange, but everything happens for a reason. … I’m not sure (what day I’ll be back), but I’ll be back by Saturday.”

Last week, Kiffin — a vocal advocate for vaccination who has said in the past his team is 100 percent vaccinated — said Saturday was experiencing only mild symptoms. He told Rece Davis on ESPN’s College GameDay he began to feel ill roughly “48 hours ago” and underwent two rounds of rapid COVID testing, both of which came back positive.

“I feel great, zero symptoms,” Kiffin said this week. “I feel 100 percent. I guess you don’t need doctors with these Whoop bands, looking at the numbers before, crazy that before I even knew I had it, recovery percentages were down in the 20′s. Then the day after I got it, my recovery was at one percent. This morning I was at 90, so kind of crazy. There’s a Whoop commercial for you. I actually remember reading that the PGA Tour was using them to find COVID before it was happening, so that’s crazy but I’m doing great.”

Despite his unavailability for the game, Kiffin made waves during a halftime interview when he took a playful jab at the Big Ten officiating crew working the game after four players had been ejected for targeting.

“We just need this Big Ten officiating crew to teach us how to tackle because, obviously, we don’t know.”

The former Alabama offensive coordinator is in mid-season form. On Tuesday, Kiffin jokingly referred to his team’s powder blue as “sissy blue, referencing LSU coach Ed Orgeron’s viral comment directed at a UCLA fan.

The Rebels face Austin Peay on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.

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