Rebels TE Casey Kelly on Ole Miss Approach Entering Hostile LSU Environment

OXFORD, Miss., -- Earlier in October the No. 7 Ole Miss Rebels lost one of their top playmakers, tight end Michael Trigg, after he suffered a broken collarbone playing the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Since Trigg went down in Week 6, redshirt junior tight end Casey Kelly has been moved into the starting role and has seen an increase in snaps. Kelly spoke with reporters on Tuesday about his increased workload. 

"It's definitely added up," Kelly told reporters. "But I just do what I'm told, play to the best of my abilities, and just perform the best I can."

Through four seasons with the Rebels, Kelly has totaled 27 receptions, 281 receiving yards, and two touchdowns. His lack of receiving production has led many to believe that Kelly is more of a blocking tight end. Kelly mentioned that he pays no attention to the jabs at his game.

"I don't listen to any of that," Kelly said. "I'm going to have my own mindset, and I'm not going to let other peoples' thoughts or actions dictate what I'm doing on a daily basis."

The last time Ole Miss traveled to Baton Rouge, La., was during the 2020 COVID-19 season. This time around, LSU's home-field advantage will certainly make a greater impact than it did two years ago. Kelly told the media he has been preparing the younger players for a crazy atmosphere.

"Especially for these SEC games, you go into every week expecting the best from the other team," Kelly said. "We play in the SEC West, the best conference in America. Going into these games, you expect loud noises, fans booing and saying this and that. So we let the younger players know that we're going into a hostile environment and you've got to be locked in."

The Ole Miss offense is stocked full of playmakers at every position who all want to compete. Kelly discussed that while everyone wants a piece of the pie, players are willing to make sacrifices if it benefits the team.

"We have so many unselfish players on our offense," Kelly said. "We want to win, that's the bottom line. We don't care about individual stats or accolades. If we come out with a win and we do it the right way then we're happy in the locker room, and that's all we want."

Kelly and the Rebels will look to keep rolling versus the LSU Tigers on Saturday and improve to 8-0 on the season. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT and the game will be televised on CBS.