Some notes and observations from the open portion of Tennessee’s practice on Sunday afternoon – the Vols’ final open practice before taking on Appalachian State in the opener at 7:30 pm ET.
Green Team: There’s a fairly extensive list of guys who were in green, non-contact uniforms on Sunday as the Vols made some of their final preparations: Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Austin Smith, Brandon Johnson, Carlin Fils-Aime, Jalen Hurd, Tyler Byrd, Alvin Kamara, Malik Foreman and Jauan Jennings
No huge reason to be alarmed – this is probably the coaching staff taking extra precaution with some guys who have been banged up with the first game now a matter of days away. Butch Jones has given no indication that any of those guys won’t be able to go Thursday, but we’ll have to wait until then to know if any of the injuries are more serious than Jones is letting on.
Circle of Life: It was an eventful day in the Circle of Life Drill at the beginning of practice with Jones putting several guys who are battling for playing time in the one-on-one drill to see who stood out.
Probably most notable was that Jones threw Alexis Johnson into the ring twice to kick off practice. As always, it’s tough to see exactly what happens with the team circled around them, but it looks like Johnson held his own against freshmen Nathan Niehaus and Ryan Johnson. It’ll be interesting to see when – or if – Alexis Johnson gets his shot in a game in 2016 after just returning to practice in recent days.
In a rare quarterback matchup in the Circle of Life, Jarrett Guarantano took on Zac Jancek. Guarantano drew one of the biggest celebrations of the day when he easily drove Jancek, a walk-on QB, out of the ring.
Marquez Callaway appeared to have a convincing victory against Justin Martin as well.
Others scenes from practice:
Preston Williams & Eli Wolf going through final prep for App. State pic.twitter.com/gRg8ZRwy07
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) August 28, 2016
Jarrett Guarantano to Brandon Johnson pic.twitter.com/MoLO9OCKtG
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) August 28, 2016
Drew Richmond getting ready to make his first start at LT pic.twitter.com/G3gkKdP3E3
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) August 28, 2016
Dobbs to Preston Williams pic.twitter.com/ZSUNeaAN2r
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) August 28, 2016
