Lane Kiffin immediately heard from Matt Corral, his former Ole Miss quarterback, after the NFL rookie with the Carolina Panthers made eyebrow-raising comments about his time with the Rebels.

Corral was asked about the Panthers QB battle this training camp with Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold.

“I took the easy way out because I felt I could play right away,” Corral said earlier this week about his decision to go to Ole Miss. “Knowing what I know now and trusting my instincts and trusting my work ethic, I would have went to a place that would have made me compete.”

Corral was one of the best QBs in the country last season, and passed for 3,349 yards and 20 touchdowns in a redshirt junior season. He also added 11 rushing touchdowns.

Kiffin took the comments in stride during a recent appearance on ESPN’s “First Take,” and noted that his former QB will make mistakes as he transitions to the NFL.

“I wasn’t here when Matt got here so as far as the competition he was in, I wasn’t here,” Kiffin explained, via AL.com.

“Matt immediately texted me after that to say that’s not what he meant by it. He actually was in a competition here, so he’s a rookie in the NFL. He’s not going to say everything right. He’s not going to throw everything right, especially in the first year. I’m sure he’d take that back.

“We’re in the time where there isn’t much time going on in the media, so like I told him, this will run for 48 hours and nobody will even remember it.”