OXFORD — Ole Miss football and baseball athlete Austin Simmons has a sprained ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), Rebels coach Mike Bianco said Wednesday.

Bianco said the plan "right now" is for Simmons to undergo rehab, which would mean he'll avoid Tommy John Surgery. That procedure usually carries a recovery time between nine months and a year. Simmons pitched 14 innings with a 3.21 ERA as a freshman this season. A former four-star prospect, he appears in line to be the Rebels' third-string quarterback in the fall, should he be available.

"He won't pitch the rest of the season for us," Bianco said. "They're gonna rehab him and get him ready for summer workouts that they do in football and obviously for fall football."

Bianco delivered the prognosis on Simmons following a 12-9 defeat to Murray State (31-18, 11-10 MVC) at Swayze Field. With No. 2 Texas A&M coming to Oxford on Friday, the Rebels (25-23, 9-15 SEC) required 10⅓ innings from their bullpen in a 15-inning marathon in which they blew a four-run lead in the seventh inning.

Bianco also said that star left fielder Ethan Lege, who fractured his thumb last week, won't play this weekend, though he wouldn't rule out a return this season, calling him "week-to-week."

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David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss football QB Austin Simmons has UCL sprain, will undergo rehab