The Tennessee Vols hit the practice field on Wednesday afternoon, in their continued preparation for the upcoming trip to Lexington. The Vols practiced in shells today, as Jeremy Pruitt looks to keep this group healthy as possible.
The QB group was working with the RB’s when we first got onto the practice field for our two viewing periods. It was Brian Maurer taking the 1st reps with the group, with JT & JG taking the others. Vols OC Jim Chaney was preaching to his QB’s about hitting the RB’s in the right spot. Chris Weinke & Chaney spent a good amount of time working different combinations at RB, with David Johnson.
The WR group was working on protecting the football with Coach Tee Martin. Jauan Jennings & Marquez Callaway were the vocal leaders during this exercise, telling their teammates to put more effort into the protection, The group continued to be loose, as it prepares for a tough battle on Saturday night.
The two groups then meshed together for “On-Air” drills. QB Brian Maurer was 1st up in these drills as well, sporting a new arm sleeve. JT Shrout & Jarrett Guarantano were working at the 2 & 3 spot. JG is still wearing a pretty big protective glove on his left hand, as he had surgery almost 10 days ago.
Brian Maurer was whistling some balls to his receivers, but JT Shrout was the one getting attention from #15, as Jauan was giving high praise to Shrout for some of his throws. Maurer, who’s been cleared from protocol for a while now, seemed to be sharp with his passes, hitting Josh Palmer in stride on two passes that got a few whistles from his teammates.
Along the OL, i didn’t notice Wanya Morris taking part in any drills while we were allowed to view. Jahmir Johnson was a full participant & looked to be working with the 1’s during certain runs. Darnell Wright continues to battle back from an ankle injury, and though he did get some work at times, he still looks to be favoring that ankle. I will be interested to see if he can make the start on Saturday, if so it won’t be at 100%.
Tennessee will continue to prepare for the Wildcats on Thursday, as business is about to pickup again for this team. I don’t expect HC Jeremy Pruitt to make any kind of announcement on a starting QB this week. But, with the way the QB spot has been rotated over the past few weeks, I’d say anything is possible.
