OXFORD — Sam Williams returned to the Ole Miss football team on Monday, weeks after being suspended for alleged sexual battery.

Those charges were dismissed late last week, freeing the senior outside linebacker/defensive end to return to football, thereby bolstering the Rebels’ defense.

“With no pending charges, Sam Williams has returned to football activities,” Ole Miss said in a statement issued Tuesday morning. “We defer to his legal counsel on questions regarding his case.”

While Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin wouldn’t speak to Williams’ now-past legal issues, he would discuss the impact Williams’ return could have on his team as the Rebels continue preparing for their Sept. 26 opener against Florida at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

“To my knowledge, Sam had been working out but he had not been working out with us because he was away from all team activities,” Kiffin said. “We did see him a little bit and worked him in (Monday). Obviously he’s got a ways to go but you can see flashes of why — it’s our first time with him with no spring ball — he’s shown to be a really good player at times.”

Ole Miss scrimmaged on Saturday, tackling during half of that session, Kiffin said. Unlike the previous two scrimmages this preseason, Ole Miss’ defense dominated Saturday. Some 27 players missed Saturday’s work, either as a result of injury or due to COVID-related issues.

“That was challenging,” Kiffin said. “A lot of guys had to play a lot of snaps and some guys didn’t get to play as much as we’d like because of that.”

Kiffin said the defense caused four turnovers and held the offense to 10 percent conversion on third-down opportunities.

“Now we did sit or barely played a few of the top guys on offense, just to avoid some injuries,” Kiffin said, referring specifically to wide receiver Elijah Moore and running back Jerrion Ealy. “We had a number of guys out, so that was part of the struggles also, including (John Rhys) Plumlee.”

Kiffin said Tuesday he thinks a past mistake made preparing one of his teams at USC has helped him manage a COVID-obsessed preseason at Ole Miss. Kiffin had a team at USC that was decimated by NCAA sanctions and he responded that preseason by changing routines.

“I think I made a mistake that year after a really good year there, even though our numbers were really low because of the sanctions and only being able to sign 15 guys,” Kiffin said. “We didn’t tackle and didn’t do the same practice formats and we went out and played really poorly that year. We’ve tackled like we normally do and practiced like we normally do for those reasons.

“It doesn’t do any good to stay healthy if we can’t tackle on game-day. So we’ve been doing everything as normal.”

Kiffin said he and his coaching staff plan to take a day soon and flip the Rebels’ skill groups, moving offense to defense and vice-versa.

“The thought is you don’t know who would really switch because you don’t know where you’d get hit,” Kiffin said. “We’ll install some base concepts and go out and do a walk-through with them on the other side, just so they can get familiar with the basics of the offense and the defense in case we have to move someone and also give those coaches a chance to work with them one day and see how they process information.”

Kiffin said the Rebels have returned three defensive backs from COVID. The offensive line should return three players back this week, though they still have to go through tests and then work back in.

“This is longer than people initially thought,” Kiffin said.

Kiffin said he has not heard a final ruling on Georgia transfer Otis Reese or Canadian transfer Deane Leonard, two players who would likely see significant playing time in the Rebels’ defensive secondary if they’re made eligible.

“There’s a lot of anticipation around that because (Reese) is one of the better players on our entire team,” Kiffin said. “He would definitely be a starter for us and a significant player so obviously we hope that that goes well.”

Leonard has looked even better than what coaches expected, Kiffin said, adding he “looks every bit like an NFL player.”

“He’s very long, can run and has great length,” Kiffin said. “It’s kind of unique to be sitting waiting on waivers with such significant players. So hopefully we get some good news.

“I feel bad for those players who don’t win waivers because, to me, they’re really getting double punished. Everyone else is getting an extra year, so if you don’t win your waiver, obviously, you can’t play but you’re not getting an extra year. So everyone else is getting to play one more year but you. That’s really kind of unfair.”

Kiffin said he is hopeful for news on Reese and Leonard this week.

Kiffin said kicker Luke Logan has performed well, but there’s a competition at that point that is ongoing. Kiffin didn’t specify who was competing against Logan, but he said he was hopeful the race would get narrowed down from 3-4 candidates by the end of this week. …Kiffin said Matt Corral has gotten all of the starting quarterback reps with Plumlee out. Kinkead Dent has taken the backup reps with Grant Tisdale and Kade Renfroe getting a sprinkling of snaps with the second-unit offense. “That position has done some good things but there’s a lot of consistency work to do,” Kiffin said.