STARKVILLE — By any and all measures, Mississippi State defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons had a breakout 2017 season. It’s not the easiest of tasks to rack up statistics as an interior lineman in the Southeastern Conference, but Simmons did just that with 60 tackles, 12 for a loss, five sacks and five quarterback hurries. It was enough to make him a First Team All-SEC selection.
He did it all with an injured shoulder.
The Macon native revealed as much after Tuesday’s practice. Simmons has been in a yellow jersey, reserved for those practicing but limited from contact, all spring as he continues recovering from that injury.
“It wasn’t nothing that was stopping me from playing. It was minor, it wasn’t a real bad labrum tear,” Simmons said. “I was able to play with it.”
Simmons said he first noticed it after the LSU game, MSU’s third of the season, but it clearly wasn’t enough to slow him down. Simmons ended his sophomore season on a seven-game streak of at least 1/2 of a tackle for a loss in each games but often more than that. He compiling eight stops behind the line in those seven games.
Simmons said he had surgery to repair the tear in January. He said he is prepared to play in full capacity, but he is not as a precautionary measure.
“We’ve talked about it. I’m ready for contact right now, but they’re not going to let me do anything full,” Simmons said. “I’m trying to stay healthy, get it all the way built back up. I probably won’t do any contact this spring.
“Right now I’m just being precautious.”
As defensive coordinator Bob Shoop put it, “I’m sure Jeffery wants to go more than we let him, but we’d be pretty silly to let (quarterback Nick) Fitzgerald or Simmons or any of these injured guys go right now and have them out when fall camp starts.”
Shoop is alluding to a group of reserve defensive lineman including Fletcher Adams, Braxton Hoyett, Marquiss Spencer, Kobe Jones, Tre Brown, Grant Harris and Cory Thomas — all of them finishing last season wth at least 12 tackles. Hoyett started alongside Simmons for the second half of last season and tallied 21 tackles, 2.5 for a loss, and the two have kept the same configuration in MSU’s first unit this spring. Brown was a key depth piece at the same position.
If anything, Simmons’ absence gives Shoop more opportunities to lay eyes on those players in person, a useful experience for him in his first year at MSU.
“It’s a great opportunity for us: I watched all the film and I watched the bowl game, so I know who Jeffery Simmons is, so I think it’s a great opportunity for the defensive line — which I think is the deepest position on the team — to get some reps and play,” Shoop said.
Simmons is equally excited to see his position mates play the full-contact drills without him: “We loaded up front.”
While Shoop takes the time to evaluate what he has around and behind his best defensive tackle, Simmons doesn’t expect the limited time to impact how he learns the new system.
“I’m one of those guys that does a lot of things mentally, anyway,” Simmons said. “Just by sitting on the sideline looking at the play call, I’m learning off it; if a guy makes a mistake, I’m learning from it.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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