Ole Miss received some good news this week as linebacker Sam Williams made his return to the team.

In his first year with the Ole Miss program last fall, Williams registered six sacks, 9.5 tackles for loss, five QB hurries, an interception and had 37 tackles. He very well could prove to be the team’s best pass rusher this fall after arriving from Northeast Mississippi Community College just over a year ago.

The Rebels were forced to suspend Williams indefinitely this offseason following an arrest on a sexual battery charge in July. However, according to Ole Miss, the program welcomed him back to the team after that charge was dropped.

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

Following Williams’ official return to the team, Lane Kiffin was asked to discuss the linebacker on Tuesday.

“To my knowledge, Sam had been working out, he wasn’t working out with us because he was away from all team activities,” Kiffin said.

“But we did see him a little bit, we worked him in yesterday, and obviously, he has a ways to go but you can see why – really that’s our first time with him with no spring ball – you can see flashes of why he’s shown to be a really good player at times.”

Given all the indications that Kiffin has given in recent weeks that his first Ole Miss team will be a work in progress, Williams’ return to the program has to be welcome news in Oxford.