VOLS players that were back at practice today

Yes yes yes

I think I read that he was at practice.

I think pretty much everyone other than JRM, Kamara, Sutton, and Sapp will be back for USCe and then Kamara and Sutton will hopefully be back in the next week or so.

I agree, they should 100% ride the pine for Tech.

VQ injury update for SCe

quote:

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As the Vols return to the field, the biggest news is the returning health of the Vols. Now, they aren't completely healthy, but they are healthier than they were playing against the Tide. Darrin Kirkland Jr. has had no issues this week with his ankle and is good to go. And Tennessee has worked a good bit of time this week on the practice field with Kirkland and Jumper on the field together. Defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said he would play his best 11 and it appears that those two linebackers are in his best 11.

At safety it will be interesting to see what happens opposite of Todd Kelly, Jr. Micah Abernathy has been limited with that hamstring and hasn't practiced a great deal. Evan Berry is healthy and has gotten the bulk of the first team work with Kelly. Shoop made it pretty clear that Nigel Warrior still has work to do mentally before Shoop is completely comfortable with him at the safety spot.

Speaking of the secondary Jones' optimism for Cam Sutton's return has not been tempered. Jones seems really confident that he's going to get Sutton back for some part of the regular season. Sutton is six weeks removed from surgery in a recovery period that he told Volquest would be 6-8 weeks. Sutton's rehab work is said to be going well to this point which is the reason for the growing optimism.

On the defensive front, Kyle Phillips will get his most extensive playing time right now and look for Jonathan Kongbo to get some early opportunities at defensive end. Kongbo seems to be figuring it out while Phillips has bought in pretty good at defensive tackle. There's concern at tackle with depth after losing Danny O'Brien and Kahlil McKenzie. It's going to be interesting to see what kind of schematic changes, if any that Shoop makes defensively to help stop the run.

Offensively, Alvin Kamara is obviously out this week. He won't be playing against Tennessee Tech either. The work load will fall on Jalen Hurd and John Kelly. Carlin Fils-Aime is the third team guy and they like his speed influence offensively. Fils-Aime did have a few snaps against Texas A&M and they have worked him a lot the last two weeks, but his role if he plays would be limited.

Up front, early in the week Butch Jones indicated all would be back. Wednesday night on Volcalls, Jones said he expects ‘most’ of his offensive linemen to be back creating some doubt. Even though Chance Hall has been on the practice field this week, we believe it will be a stretch to see him giving Tennessee meaningful snaps on Saturday night. We believe he will dress and could go in an emergency role, but his knee is a problem that isn't going to heal itself over night. Elsewhere on the line of scrimmage, after missing part of practice on Tuesday with a lab, Dylan Weisman looks good to go tomorrow night. Jack Jones will give it a go with a cast on his hand. It's a similar cast to the one he wore in high school.

If indeed Hall can't go then one would think their best five would have Coleman Thomas at right tackle and Dylan Weisman at center. Tennessee likes what Marcus Tatum did in his first playing time, but they protected the entire offensive front when it had both Tatum and Drew Richmond at tackle by getting the ball out of Josh Dobbs' hand quickly. Tatum has a really bright future and is going to play down the stretch of the season, but he physically still has a ways to go.

Another freshman that making a move on the practice field is Marquez Callaway. Callaway hasn't played to date, but he is a guy who benefitted greatly with the bye and the fact that the Vols got rest for guys like Josh Malone, Jauan Jennings, and Josh Smith, who have been banged up. That meant a lot of reps for the young receivers last week. Callaway had a good week as did fellow freshman Brandon Johnson who has played a little bit this season.

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