Tennessee is preparing for its SEC road opener at No. 25 LSU Saturday and is hoping to get a number of contributors back from injury.
The Vols won’t get cornerback Warren Burrell back after the senior underwent season ending surgery, Vols’ coach Josh Heupel announced Monday. While the Vols will be without Burrell, Heupel provided a positive update on the status of star receiver Cedric Tillman.
Tillman underwent “tightrope” surgery on his ankle following the Vols’ win over Akron and missed Tennessee’s win over Florida while recovering.
The All-SEC receiver is questionable for Saturday’s game in Baton Rouge but was on Haslam Practice Field Monday morning.
“Cedric did have surgery,” Heupel said. “The timeline, he did that just had an opportunity to speed up the recovery process side of it. We’ll see where he’s at. He was limited but moving around a little bit today. We’ll see how it unfolds this week and see where we’re at.”
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Tillman caught 17 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown in just over two games this season after becoming Tennessee’s first 1,000 yard receiver since 2012 a season ago.
While Tennessee’s offense showed it can have success without him against Florida, the Vols’ strong passing attack becomes all the more lethal with Tillman leading the way.
What does Heupel have to see from Tillman to feel confident playing him Saturday in Baton Rouge?
“He’s got to be able to be a functional player and play at the level we expect him to and he wants to play at too,” Heupel said.
Tennessee and LSU kick off at Tiger Stadium at noon ET Saturday. Bob Wischusen, Dan Orlovsky and Kris Budden are on the call for ESPN.
