Ole Miss head football coach Hugh Freeze stated Wednesday that Denzel Nkemdiche may need to miss Saturday's game against LSU for "personal" reasons.
"It's just day by day," ESPN quoted Freeze telling reporters. "Issues come up that you need to get through that involve one of our players and anything with their family, we just want to support them and help them through it.
"We are going to walk through it with him."
Citing unnamed sources, RebelGrove.com reported Nkemdiche has been in the intensive care unit since Monday at the Baptist Memorial Hospital in North Mississippi. He was still there as of Wednesday night and was conscious, but the reason for his hospitalization is not clear.
RebelGrove.com learned the senior linebacker did not report to a team meeting on Sunday and was "found" the next day. The website did not elaborate, but stated he was taken to the hospital and was admitted that day.
"Coach [Freeze] addressed it after practice, and we have nothing more to add," an Ole Miss spokesperson told The Jackson Clarion-Ledger. "As he said, it's a personal matter."
Nkemdiche, whose younger brother Robert is a junior at Ole Miss who plays defensive tackle for the football team, leads the Rebels in tackles. He has yet to miss a game this season and is a former All-SEC linebacker.
Ole Miss takes on LSU this weekend in Oxford and the winner will hold onto a slim chance of taking the SEC West while the loser will be eliminated from contention.
