Senior defensive end/linebacker Curt Maggitt will miss spring practice after undergoing shoulder surgery, coach Butch Jones confirmed to the Knoxville News-Sentinel at a media opportunity before speaking to a coaching clinic in Pigeon Forge on Friday afternoon.
Jones said senior linebacker/defensive end Curt Maggitt will miss the spring after shoulder surgery. Said that was an injury from the season
— Tennessee Beat (@TennesseeBeat) March 6, 2015
Maggitt is expected to be one of the leaders, on and off the field, for the 2015 squad. He bounced back from a knee injury in late 2012 that cost him all of the 2013 season to be one of the Vols’ most productive players in 2014 – recording a team-leading 11 sacks while playing both as a traditional defensive end and switching to outside linebacker when the Vols utilized a 4-3 defensive look.
Add Maggitt to a fairly lengthy injury list that Jones has confirmed in various interviews:
Out: DE Derek Barnett, LB Darrin Kirkland Jr., DT Danny O’Brien, DE Kyle Phillips, WR Jason Croom
Questionable/limited: WR Marquez North, DT Trevarris Saulsberry, TE Alex Ellis, RB Jalen Hurd, DT Owen Williams, OL Chance Hall, DL/OL Charles Mosley, LB Dillon Bates, LB Jakob Johnson, DE Corey Vereen, DB Rashaan Gaulden
The defensive line has been especially hit hard with Barnett, O’Brien, Phillips, Saulsberry, Williams, Mosley and Vereen all dealing with some form of injury. Newcomers Shy Tuttle and Andrew Butcher, along with rising sophomores Kendal Vickers and Dimarya Mixon and rising junior LaTroy Lewis are the only scholarship defensive linemen who haven’t been mentioned as having injury concerns heading into the spring.
Jones has said multiple times that depth on the defensive line this spring is a question to the point where it could be difficult to have full practice drills at that spot.
Once healthy, and with the addition of several more talented recruits on the defensive line, it is expected to be a potential strength in 2015, but the Vols will certainly be a shell of what they can be at defensive line until that point.
