HOOVER, Ala. – The trash talk coming from Florida this offseason towards Tennessee has certainly been noted by Tennessee fans.
In a few instances, Tennessee players have responded in some form via social media as well.
But while the Gators continued to fire this week, Tennessee’s m.o. this week so far has been to not take the bait.
Florida linebacker Jarrad Davis quipped that, “It’s always one of the funnest games of the year because we win,” during Florida’s time on Monday. Florida safety Marcus Maye added, “Tennessee is Tennessee and we’re Florida. What you see is what you get, and it’s been that way for a while.”
Cornerback Jalen Tabor, while not in Birmingham, has been the leader of the trash talk for the Gators consistently for the past few months on various social media platforms.
Tennessee had its day at SEC Media Days on Tuesday, and as expected, the Florida topic was brought up often, but UT didn’t lob much in terms of return fire in terms of trash talk.
“Not really for me…people have been doing that to me since I’ve been playing football, so it’s not really something that gets under my skin or anything like that,” UT linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin. “I appreciate football and some guys, that’s how they bring it. Some guys bring it on the field, I’ve got respect for Jarrad Davis as a football player, I like the way he plays. Some guys talk and some guys play. It’s a personal preference.”
Quarterback Joshua Dobbs went even more diplomatic.
“As I’ve said, we’re self-motivated,” he said when asked if there’s extra motivation for the Florida game. “I just heard about it for the first time today, so that shows we’re not really worried about what people outside the program are saying about our program. We know who we have at Tennessee – we know who is on offense and who is on defense – and we’re a very competitive team and we’re just excited (for the opener) on Sept. 1.”
Cornerback Cam Sutton fell in line as well – making it three for three for the player representatives.
“I don’t really get into that or get involved in that,” he said. “That’s not my priority or something I worry about, but obviously we see it because a lot of guys are connected to social media and it’s something we cannot really turn ourselves from, but we have a lot more to worry about than just that.”
Butch Jones was also asked a question about learning from the Florida loss in the past and if there’s any extra emphasis on the game this year or not. He mentioned Reeves-Maybin making a film of some of his “lowlights” over the offseason to learn from. He mentioned his relationship with Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. But he didn’t address the Florida game directly. He didn’t want to take the bait either.
To an extent, UT doesn’t have much of a choice.
Florida has dominated the series with 11 straight victories. And while many expect Tennessee to end that run this year, UT will wait to try to make that statement on the field instead of talking about it before the season.
