LOOK: Juice Kiffin takes playful shot at Malik Heath, Mississippi State conditioning
Juice Kiffin, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin’s star dog, took a shot at rival Mississippi State by sharing a picture of transfer receiver Malik Heath. Heath was photographed down on his knee during practice, prompting Juice’s Twitter account to share the photo and take a direct shot at their rival Bulldogs who Heath used to play for.
Juice Kiffin jokes about Malik Heath and Mississippi State
Juice’s jab is likely to sting twice for Bulldogs fans, given that Heath transferred out of the program and directly into one of their most bitter rivals. As the Rebels begin fall camp, Heath had a moment where he was struggling and working with trainers — opening the door for a joke about how Ole Miss players are tougher and in better shape.
“Were you trained by a Bulldog? We’ve got different dogs around here.”
Lane Kiffin spoke about the joke when asked about how Heath was fitting in early with Ole Miss during his press appearance, stating that Juice was going to get reprimanded for his joke — in a very tongue-in-cheek fashion.
“I was told on my walk up here that Juice just tweeted something during practice about Malik, so we’ve reprimanded Juice as you’ll see on Twitter walking up here — we don’t give bulletin board material. Malik struggled early, kinda was down on all-fours. We don’t do that here, you know you gotta get up and keep going. So I think Juice kinda took a shot at him on Twitter about how he’s been trained.”
Kiffin went on to explain that despite the photo of Heath down and fighting with his conditioning, the moment didn’t reflect his whole day of practice or his skills.
“Malik has had an adjustment period but has really flashed and made some really special plays. Actually [he] came back after that period and scored a touchdown, a long touchdown on the last play of the day. Got a very high ceiling, lot of work to do still.”
Heath was involved in a serious car accident at the end of 2021 that saw him undergo surgery for his injuries and kept him from playing in the Liberty Bowl for the Bulldogs. Heath had to be airlifted to a hospital for his surgery, making his return to the field all the more impressive — and it’s understandable if he needs a little bit of time to catch up with his conditioning.