Practice No. 9 Observations: Vols back to work following scrimmage day

Tennessee football hit the practice field Sunday morning following an OFF day on Saturday and scrimmage on of fall camp Friday from Neyland Stadium. The team was in shells (shoulder pads and helmet) and working between both the Anderson (indoor) Training Facility and Haslam Field.

The media was on hand for the first three periods of the workout (0-2). There will be no media availabilities afterwards. Those will resume Monday following another practice. Tuesday will be an OFF day, Wednesday another practice day with the second scrimmage coming up on Thursday.

A reminder that these observations are a combination of notes from the Volquest staff. The first string, second string, etc notes are not the gospel , rather, how the players were lined up on the given day. Players who are off to the side (injured) while the media is present might be getting more work after we leave. There is plenty we will miss and there’s still about 18 periods that we won’t be allowed to see. These are simply observations and nothing more.

Injury Report

Wide receiver Bru McCoy seemed to getting more work today than he has all camp long. He was running around and doing everything today with a smile on his face. Remember, he is still not likely to get any work in scrimmages this fall, but he didn’t appear to be held back at all today.

The other No. 5 ( Christian Harrison ) was in a red jersey this morning after picking up the start at STAR on Friday night. He was going through everything while the media was on hand, but did have a red jersey on. Cameron Seldon , of course, had a red jersey on. Receivers Kaleb Webb , Mike Matthews and Dont’e Thornton were not in red jerseys and running routes on air with the rest of the group.

Offensive lineman John Campbell and Andrej Karic were both stretching with the team. Karic looked to be going through individual while Campbell was off to the side with a small group around the trainer. Running back Dylan Sampson did not take part in individual period while the media was in attendance. He was of to the side (brace on left knee) hanging out with a trainer. It is not believed to be anything series, but he will not do any scrimmage work this fall before the season. Gage Ginther and Jeremias Heard were also off to the side with trainers. Braylon Staley was doing high knees off to the side and Caleb Herring was working with a medicine ball with a trainer. Jalen McMurray looked to be full-go.

Observations – Practice No. 9

Josh Heupel briefly spoke to the team after the stretching period and before individual began. His message was clear and that was to bring the intensity today. It’s easy to go through the motions following an OFF day and while you’re still likely sore from the scrimmage Friday night. The head coach was encouraging them to fight through those thoughts and have a good day of work.

The tight ends were hitting the two-man blocking sled and then working on arch blocks for outside zone. Though Ethan Davis has come a long way in the blocking side of things, he simply looks awesome running routes. He’s at home there and will be a prime target for Nico Iamaleava this season.

On the offensive line, Glen Elarbee was getting after his group and challenging them after the defensive line had their way with them at times on Friday night. Again, this is a good and deep defensive front – and the offensive line had three backups playing Friday – but Elarbee was challenging his group to be better to start a new week.

The defensive front was doing bag drills under the cage and working on explosion, hitting the tackling sled. The linebackers were tackling some and working on meshing up with the receiver in coverage. The defensive backs were coming down hill working on run-fits. Jermod McCoy had a good scrimmage the other night and it appears he’s leading that corner group. It also helps when you have James Pearce up front wreaking havoc.

Kelsey Pope was giving some 1-on-1 attention to freshman Mike Matthews , who was getting more work today than he has in a while. Brazzell, Thornton and Davis all made some pretty nice catches down the field during routes on air. We thought the quarterbacks had a good day throwing the football. Jake Merklinger looks to be more comfortable and confident at this stage in camp.

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