AJ Finley Speaks on Decision to Return to Ole Miss

Despite possibly being NFL ready, AJ Finley returned to Oxford this season so he can reach his goal of becoming a better player on and off the field.

OXFORD, Miss. -- The Ole Miss Rebels wrapped up their first day of fall camp on Wednesday, and senior safety AJ Finley has decided to return for his final season under the bright lights of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Finley sat down with John Macon Gillespie of The Grove Report to discuss his return to the team and his goals for the 2022 season. The rising senior has been a starter since the 2020 campaign where he started nine out of 10 games as a sophomore. Even while having all this experience under his belt, Finley will stick with the Rebel secondary for one more season.

“I just felt like it was the best thing for me to do,” Finley told Gillespie. “I feel like there’s stuff I can still get better on, so I just wanted to take this year to really improve on these things and get better.”

Finley has improved all across the board since his freshman year in 2019. He has seen an uptick in tackles every year and finished the last two seasons with three interceptions, returning one for a touchdown last season.

Being such an important piece in this Ole Miss secondary, Finley talked about how the defense has adapted to new co-defensive coordinator Chris Partridge after previous defensive coordinator DJ Durkin took a job with the Texas A&M Aggies.

“We really haven’t had any system changes," Finley said. "It’s just a few different wrinkles, but I feel like this defense is going to be really good. Obviously we’ve got the talent, so it’s going to be really fun in the fall.”

The senior defensive back, in the midst of having professional aspirations, is still trying to improve with each practice and game.

“That’s my main goal every year," Finley said. "I just try to attack something that I feel like I’m weak at and just attack it to where the thing's not a problem anymore, so I can improve and get even better every year."

What does Finley focus on most in his improvement? Being a veteran leader on a Rebel team with a lot of new faces this season.

“That’s one of the things I’ve been trying to work on is being a leader because I’m not the most vocal guy,” Finley said. “I just kind of do what I do and stay out of the way, but part of me wants to take that next step and be more vocal.”

Finley and the Rebels will host their season opener against the Troy Trojans on Sept. 3. The game will be televised on SEC Network.

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