As the quarterback competition at Tennessee rages on, one Volunteer quarterback has missed his third workout in a row. Quarterback Brian Maurer was absent from Wednesday’s practice and Thursday’s scrimmage. Tennessee football had an off day on Friday before they returned to the field on Saturday morning.
Maurer was also missing from Saturday’s practice earlier this morning. Tennessee’s other three quarterbacks, Harrison Bailey, Hendon Hooker, and Joe Milton, were all out on the field Saturday.
The Vols have had a hefty quarterback competition on the hands this fall, with four players all battling for the starting spot. But what has made Tennessee’s battle fascinating is that two of Tennessee’s participants (Milton, Hooker) were not on the team last year. Furthermore, one of the finalists (Milton) did not start working out with Tennessee until after spring football practices this year.
During the first few practices at the beginning of August, all four quarterbacks equally shared reps on the field. Each one worked to get down the basics with all of the running backs and wide receivers. However, now that fall camp has progressed through its second week, the Tennessee coaching staff will likely start to work towards some kind of order of depth.
Head coach Josh Heupel and quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle have both been very complimentary of their quarterbacks. But has also stated that there is still a lot of work to be done in that position.
Tennessee quarterback Maurer, who missed his third straight workout for Tennessee on Saturday, fueled speculation around his future at Tennessee with an Instagram post on Tuesday night.
The Tennessee quarterback posted a picture of himself in his Tennessee uniform with the caption, “They took my dream after 4 days… That’s okay cause I’m a soldier. #18out”
Maurer did edit the post later that night, though. After the change, the Instagram post read, “I’m a soldier” with a green heart. Maurer has not attended a Tennessee workout since the Instagram post. However, Maurer did walk with a teammate out of the football facility on Thursday after the scrimmage.
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel addressed the absence of Maurer on Thursday during his post-scrimmage press conference.
“I had an initial conversation with him at some point a few days ago as far as the reps and how things were going to be divided up,” Heupel said on Thursday.
When asked to follow up on Maurer, Heupel said there was “no further update on him” but that the staff would “have a conversation with him during the off day here.”
Tennessee held that off-day on Friday. However, even with the conversation having assumedly taken place, Maurer was still not at Saturday morning’s practice. As of Saturday morning at 10 a.m., Tennessee quarterback Brian Maurer has not entered his name into the transfer portal.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee practice coverage. This includes video highlights from practice, along with practice notes and observations.
