Chris Jans shares latest on D.J. Jeffries, Trey Fort injuries

Mississippi State bounced back from two straight losses with two straight wins last week, defeating Georgia and Missouri handily in double-digit victories. Doing so without two key players.

Forward DJ Jeffries and guard Trey Fort have both missed time for the Bulldogs recently due to injuries, and on Monday, Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans gave an injury update on both players ahead of their week off.

“I haven’t seen them today, we’re gonna practice this afternoon,” Jans said. “Neither one of them has been on the practice court. Now Trey’s out there, but he doesn’t do anything with his injured hand so he really doesn’t do much of anything in terms of practice. He has no physical contact at all so he’s in a practice uniform but he’s not really available for practice.”

Fort has missed the last four games for the Bulldogs after suffering a hand injury against Auburn in January, exiting that matchup after playing in just four minutes.

The Tennessee-Martin transfer joined the team this offseason and started the first seven games of the year for Mississippi State before coming off of the bench in his following 10 game appearances, averaging 5.7 points per game.

Jeffries, on the other hand, suffered a knee injury three games ago against Alabama after starting in 87 of his 90 game appearances for the Bulldogs in the past three seasons, providing the team with valuable defense and rebounding in their starting lineup.

But moving forward, Jans is unsure if their player will be available of their next matchup this Saturday against Arkansas despite their week of rest.

“And neither one of them have been available yet, so they still have steps in their progression,” Jans said. “I would say it’s a maybe on both of them for Saturday as we get closer we’ll know if they’re gonna be available or not. I don’t know if it’ll be a game time decision, hopefully they’ll know before that. But they’ll both have to make some steps headed in that direction the next couple days.”

Thankfully KeShawn Murphy returned to the lineup this week for Mississippi State after making just eight game appliances this season. Missing time for personal but making an impact in the Bulldogs’ two most recent games. But hopefully Mississippi State can to full strength across their entire roster soon as the postseason creeps closer and closer.