Tennessee offensive lineman K’Rojhn Calbert recently underwent surgery and will be out for an extended period, Josh Heupel announced on Thursday. During the first week of fall training camp, Calbert, who is entering his fifth season with the Tennessee football program, suffered a reported bicep injury. Calbert underwent an MRI after sustaining the damage. However, the injury looks to be severe, judging by the length of recovery.
“K’Rojhn Calbert did have surgery,” coach Heupel said during his post-scrimmage press conference on Thursday. “He will not be with us for an extended period of time right now”
A redshirt senior on the Tennessee football team, Calbert has been a model of consistency during his career. Calbert originally signed to coach Butch Jones back in November 2016. But, for as long as Calbert has been at Tennessee, the Mcminnville, TN native has seen a lot. Calbert has had three head coaches at Tennessee, including Jeremy Pruitt and Josh Heupel.
During his first training camp in 2017, Calbert suffered a season-ending injury. The freshman offensive lineman underwent knee surgery to address a pre-existing injury just a few days into camp.
On Monday, Tennessee offensive line coach Glen Elarbee spoke on Calbert’s absence before Heupel’s announcement Thursday.
“Man, alright, I feel like Coach Heupel is the one that’s supposed to speak on those types of things,” Elarbee said. “So, again, I’m going to not comment on that.”
During his career, Calbert has played in 32 games for Tennessee, the bulk of which at the tackle position. The 6-foot-5, 325-pound lineman, did not start during the 2020 season but did make five starts during the 2019 season.
In an effort to bounce back from last season’s underachieving play, Tennessee has put in a lot of work to the offensive line. OL Jerome Carvin said that the team has “14 to 15” guys on the line that are battling for a starting position. According to UT Sports, 10 out of the 16 offensive linemen on Tennessee’s roster are a redshirt sophomore or younger. And that is including the removal of Calbert from the count.
So while Tennessee will still be able to rely on their depth, their veteran experience took a significant hit with the injury to Calbert. But regardless, the Vols still have talented players on the line, like preseason First-Team All-SEC lineman Cade Mays. Either way, though, Tennessee will lose a lot of on-field experience with the injury to K’Rojhn Calbert.
According to Josh Heupel on Thursday, Tennessee offensive lineman K’Rojhn Calbert is officially out for an extended period of time. He after underwent surgery earlier this week.
