Another day of Tennessee football practice, another day of the buzz around the program surrounding the Vols’ quarterback situation.
When the Vols hit the practice field on Wednesday in preparation of Saturday’s game with Kentucky, the team was all in shells. The quarterback rotation during the open period was the same as it was on Tuesday. Brian Maurer was first, J.T. Shrout was second, and Jarrett Guarantano was third.
All three quarterbacks threw the ball fairly well, looking exactly as they should in November during routes-versus-air. After working on hand-offs with the running backs, the quarterbacks worked on routes in the red zone with the wide receivers.
The tight ends, who usually work off by themselves or with the offensive line, were working on catching passes before moving over to work on combination blocks with the offensive line. Brian Niedermeyer really worked with Dominick Wood-Anderson on dig routes, emphasizing the importance of securing the football after the catch. Jim Chaney walked over and had a long conversation with Austin Pope following the drill.
Along the offensive line, Wanya Morris didn’t practice. The freshman tackle has been dealing with a shoulder injury. Fellow freshman Darnell Wright, who is dealing with an ankle, was dressed out and working a little bit with the third team. Jahmir Johnson worked at left tackle in Morris’ spot, while Marcus Tatum worked with the ones and twos at right tackle.
Freshman wideout Jerrod Means was on the bike off to the side working with strength coach Craig Fitzgerald, and he didn’t participate in individual wide receiver drills.
Defensively, the emphasis was on pass-rush. Tracy Rocker led his group through a drill focused on stunts, while Kevin Sherrer led the defense through drills working on third down blitzes.
Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt will address the media at the conclusion of Wednesday’s practice.
