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OXFORD — The 2023 season didn’t always go the way Jayden Williams planned.

When Williams went looking for someone to blame, however, he always found himself looking in the mirror.

“Last year was quite a year for me,” Williams said Tuesday following Ole Miss’ practice earlier in the day. “And I say, like, life hit me and that's, like, personal life and the way I handled coming off of surgery and the way I handled coaching changes and stuff like that. So I really just had to mature and kind of grow up a little bit, get my mental back right, to be able to come in this year just step it up and make it just football and be more mature, sort of.”

Williams, a 6-foot-4, 315-pound junior from Conway, Ark., started all 13 games at left tackle for Ole Miss in 2022. In 2023, however, Williams started just twice, though he appeared in all but two of the Rebels’ 13 games. There was an injury that required surgery that provided a physical setback and then wanting to be with his newborn daughter, Layla, back in Arkansas created some mental hurdles.

“So, like, being away from her then, like I said, coming off of surgery, that was like, it’s like I was really trying to get over the hill and I couldn’t,” Williams said. “So it's kind of, like, a lot weighing down on me. So I’d say I had to mature and I had to do it fast. And last year, me not being mature played into me not playing as much as I wanted to or me not playing as well as I wanted to.”

Williams admitted that he considered the transfer portal. In this era of college football, an offensive tackle with that much Southeastern Conference film would be coveted.

“But then I thought about it, and things weren't right,” Williams said. “I always said if I was going to leave, things would just have to be completely wrong. But like I said, I had to look back and look in the mirror and see what was really the problem. And I can honestly say most of it was me.”

Williams is back in the Ole Miss starting lineup, serving as the left tackle for the fifth-ranked Rebels (2-0) as they prepare for Saturday’s game at Wake Forest (1-1). Williams said he’s more focused this year, primarily because there’s so much more to play for.

“Now I can't just think about myself,” Williams said. “It's not like last year I could have transferred and be like, ‘Oh, I'm gonna go such and such and go across the country.’ But that'd be selfish of me to do that and leave my daughter back home in Arkansas. So it just forced me to think about other things. Like, I just can't go around doing stupid stuff or jeopardize something because of my emotions, because I have somebody else to look after now.”

Communication aiding defense as well: Ole Miss linebacker TJ Dottery said Tuesday the Rebels’ defense has benefited from in-game helmet communications so far this season. Most of the attention with the new technology is on the offense, but defenses have the benefit of a coach — in Ole Miss’ case, Pete Golding — in their ear until 15 seconds remain on the play clock.

“I think I kind of got used to it out of camp,” Dottery said. “I think (Golding) did a good job of kind of distancing himself during practice, whether that's just going to the other end of the end zone or like going on a side tour. Like, it's not on-field communication, it's really through the headphones.

“I think it benefits the defense as well. I think it allowed us to get lined up way quicker with a lot of offenses going tempo, especially like our offense, every day in practice, how fast they go. So it's been able to get us lined up, get the defensive backs and linebackers, D-line, everybody, on the same page and communicating quicker.”

More than anything, Dottery, who has seven tackles so far this season, said, Ole Miss has benefited from being physical up front and stopping opponents’ running attacks.

“We have a spot the ball mentality,” Dottery said. “So wherever we get the ball, we just want to get it back. So that's been the main thing.”

Canady enjoying health: Ole Miss safety Jaden Canady said Tuesday he never completely felt secure on his recovering knee last season. The former Tulane star recorded just two tackles for Ole Miss last season, but a year later, the Jacksonville, Fla., native feels healthy and care-free again for the first time since suffering an ACL tear while playing for Tulane in 2022.

“Coming here was obviously a leap of faith and it definitely worked out for me,” Canady said. “You know, Year One was kind of iffy coming back off of ACL because it’s such a major injury. Year Two was nothing but smooth cruising and I think I worked pretty hard to get back to where I was at.”

Canady has been a bit of a surprise so far this season, recording seven tackles so far and adding two pass break-ups. He said he’s learned from the injury and the rehab to attack each day.

“Getting hurt like that definitely shows you to just slow down your days, go day by day and to live in the present,” Canady said. “And I think about the future, you know, just that I took every day knowing I had to win the day.”