Tennessee cancelled its scheduled Thursday morning practice session as the Vols work through the grind of fall camp. According to the schedule, they will be back on the practice field Thursday night at 6:50 in a session that is closed to the media.
Camp has clearly taken its toll on the Vols despite being just over a week old. A total of 18 players were absent during the open portion of Wednesday’s practice session. Most of the injuries are believe to be minor, though the Vols have lost guard Marcus Jackson for what will possibly be the season with an injury in camp already.
Rumors and a report circulated on Thursday morning that receiver Marquez North may have sustained a serious injury in Wednesday’s practice.
Here’s what we’ve been told via a source: North did, indeed, sustain an injury early during practice on Wednesday. After the injury, North spent the rest of Wednesday’s session on the training table observing practice, but was not in any noticeable pain. The severity of the injury is unknown at this time. We can confirm that much, but anything else at this point is speculation.
Updated 11:45 a.m.: Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman came out later in the morning and confirmed that there was some sort of injury sustained, but downplayed any reports that speculated that North would miss an extended period of time:
SOURCE: Speculation on #Vols big WR Marquez North possibly being injured & lost for the season is all false. He may be out 1 wk or less
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) August 13, 2015
North has missed portions of his only two seasons at Tennessee with injuries. In North’s career, he’s appeared in 21 games, has 68 catches, 816 receiving yards and five touchdowns. The Vols did get a boost at receiver this fall with the return of Von Pearson from suspension, but have also had key players Pig Howard and Jason Croom miss some of camp due to various injuries. Freshman Preston Williams, who is coming off a torn ACL in high school, is awaiting final word on his eligibility after the NCAA required him to re-take his ACT after flagging his score.
Butch Jones is next scheduled to address the media on Friday during UT’s annual Media Day.
