Things are already back to normal for LSU safety Jalen Mills.
Five days after the safety was reinstated as part of the Tigers’ program once felony charges for punching a woman in the mouth and knocking her unconscious were reduced to a misdemeanor, Mills spoke with the media regarding his experience of being indefinitely suspended from the team.
“When everything happened, it happened so fast,” Mills told ESPN.com. “I didn’t know what I was going to be able to do for a month and a half or so. Just going through everything, if I had a second chance, I wouldn’t have myself in this predicament, and I wouldn’t cause all this confusion on the team.”
The No. 1 concern for Mills during that time seems to be whether or not he could play for LSU during this upcoming season.
“We actually have meetings where Coach [Les] Miles and the NCAA bring people in when things like that happen,” Mills said. “Man, listen to those people because you never know what can happen. Anything can happen, like my situation.
“It was kind of rough, just going through the whole process, not knowing whether I would be there to play with these guys. They’re my brothers, so once I heard those guys voted me back on the team, I was thankful.”
Mills established he was thankful to his team for reinstating him, but did he regret his actions?
Let’s see what he had to say next...
“It’s just a learning experience,” Mills said. “I’m learning from it right now. I just have to keep moving forward and just keep pushing and just try to stay focused on football.”
Not once did Mills apologize to the unnamed victim he allegedly punched. While Mills can’t get into specifics due to it still being an open case, he could have shown a little more contrition for his actions.
The world of sports becomes more sensitive each passing day regarding the treatment of women by athletes. Mills’ explanation and LSU’s handling of the junior’s reinstatement are completely tone deaf to the evolving landscape in sports.