Here’s what Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt, while participating in the SEC’s post-spring conference call, had to say on a couple of the Rebels’ high-interest topics. …

On QB Raymond Cotton

Ole Miss doctors have looked over the MRI results of the throwing shoulder for backup quarterback Raymond Cotton, but Cotton and his family have yet to secure a second opinion.

They will do that, but the family’s focus at this time has been on finishing up the spring semester, Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said.

Nutt is hopeful that Cotton will be able to play through what has been described as a torn labrum in the shoulder. It’s not a new injury, although the actual tear is a new revelation. “Ultimately you do what’s best for Raymond,” Nutt said.

If surgery can be put off until after the season, what remains unclear is how many “flare ups” such as Cotton had in spring he might have to endure in the fall.

“What I’m being told, and I’m being educated as we go, is that he feels so much better today than he did two or three weeks ago. We think with all the summer rehab, all the work we’ll be able to get done … We feel he’ll be able to handle a full month’s work in August with his arm so much stronger. We’re hopeful that’s the case.” …

On his two suspended players

Nutt said he hopes to have an idea what the future holds for suspended players WR Patrick Patterson and DB Tig Barksdale by June 1, the first day of the first summer session.

“We’re waiting on final grades for this semester and a couple of checks in some different areas,” Nutt said. “We hope by June 1 we’ll have a roadmap in which direction we’re going.”

For what it’s worth, Patterson, a sophomore from Noxubee County, was a regular at spring practice sessions. Barksdale, a redshirt freshman from Batesville, was not.