Tennessee football returned to Neyland Stadium Wednesday morning for its 12th fall practice and its second fall scrimmage as the camp portion of preseason practice continues to wind down.
Heupel discussed a myriad of subjects including injuries to a pair of freshmen, Joe Milton’s consistent accuracy and much more.
Here’s everything Heupel said to the media Wednesday.
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Opening statement
“Good day out there. Good energy on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Got some good special-teams work. Did some normal drive work, but got some coming-out and then finished it with some overtime. Plays on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Offense got some things going early. I thought the defense did a really good job in the middle part of the scrimmage getting off the field. Third-down defense was really strong, for the most part. And, in the overtime, I thought the defense did a great job. They played really good football in the overtime period. So, all in all, good day’s work. Two weeks away from kickoff — two and change — and got a lot of things that we’ve got to continue to clean up on both sides of it. The communication side, I thought, could’ve been better offensively — just some of the mechanics stuff. But, all in all, good work. It also lets us know where we’ve got to improve before we get to Nashville.”
On whether Tennessee’s offense made a jump from its performance in the first preseason scrimmage
“I don’t know if it made a jump. I thought they made some plays. Some of our vets, we did let go in this one. They got some early work and then got out in the middle part of the scrimmage. I thought there were some really good things that happened — up front, protection early in the football scrimmage. There are some things just mechanically — how we function and operate — that we’ve got to get better at, too, and it was all positions.”
On how Tennessee’s offensive line functioned without senior center Cooper Mays and which players the Vols used with the first-team unit
“We’ve had multiple guys going at center, like I said when I talked about Cooper being out. All of those guys handled it, as far as the communication once they got the play call, in a really positive way. I thought our protection with the (No.) 1 group in particular has been pretty sound, for the most part. Those guys have got to continue to grow. We’ll find out as we continue to finish up training camp where we’re at, who will run out there with the first group the first game.”
On senior quarterback Joe Milton III’s accuracy during the scrimmage and throughout camp
“Man, he was really accurate with the football, really decisive. Been a really good decision-maker. I don’t know if he’s thrown a pick all training camp. Been in control of the protections, for the most part, and we’ve continued to push their hand on that side of it. That’s Joe, but that’s the guys behind him right now, too. And I think they’ve continued to grow in that way.”
On whether the mechanical things on offense that need to be cleaned up is common for this time of the year
“Some of it is. The first scrimmage, in all reality, was probably a little cleaner than today’s. But it was just operationally, off the sideline, play clock, getting things settled as we get out there on the field first play of a drive. I’m not worried about where we’re at. We’re pretty intentional on working those things during practice. I thought today could’ve been cleaner. But it wasn’t just one guy. All of us just need to be a little bit cleaner.”
On redshirt freshman wide receiver Kaleb Webb taking advantage of his opportunities during camp and what has been intentional in his growth
“From the offseason to where we are today, he’s been very intentional. I don’t know if anybody spends more time in the building catching balls off the JUGS. He’s always coming back for extra work in the middle of the day to understand what he’s doing, what he’s seeing to continue to grow within our offense, understanding defensive structure. He’s gotten a lot stronger — his lower body in particular. That’s helped him — speed getting in and out of breaks. He’s just continuing on his football journey of real purpose every day and small strides, and up to big games by the time you get to kickoff. Been really pleased with him. Chas Nimrod is a guy that’s done the exact same thing. He’s continued to grow. He’s played multiple positions within our offense, and really excited about Chas and Kaleb.”
On the latest injuries for defensive lineman Tyree Weathersby and running back DeSean Bishop
“Weathersby will be out for the year. DeSean is not out for the year, but will be out for extended period of time. Probably a couple months.”
On when they expect Cooper Mays back
“We believe we’ll have an opportunity to get him back. Everything has gone well since he missed training camp and had the issue that he had. But at the same time, and it’s true for every position, but in particular the offensive line, you better have contingency plans and you don’t know when that’s gonna happen. Guy gets an ankle. You guys have seen that since we’ve been here, so every week you gotta understand where you’re at going into the game, how you wanna manage and play those guys if you’re healthy, but if something happens to one of those five guys, somebody gets nicked up, who’s the next in? How are you shuffling? Your front five if in particular, center goes down. So those are things that you work through every training camp and throughout the course of the season.”
On how Tennessee’s running game performed in the second scrimmage
“We’ll be able to see more as you go back and watch it. With all the bodies and the moving parts up front, I thought at times we’re really efficient and effective. There’s some things that are unique within our run game that I thought our guys handled really well. Some of that in our pull schemes. I thought the backs did a really good job of pressing, making cuts. Some of that coming out the back door. We manage the load of the guys that you’ve seen play a lot of football here. A lot of our young backs got a lot of work today. I thought they handled and operated better than they did in the first scrimmage as they continue to get comfortable in how we play.”
On where he thinks the four-man rush is through two scrimmages
“Not just the scrimmages, but the practices are extremely important too, to evaluate where you’re at. I know that we’ve taken strides. That’s in the interior, that’s on the edges. We’ve added depth, which allow those guys to rotate more and stay fresh. I’m excited about what we’re doing on the front four at this point and some of the things that we have to grow in, in particular, pass defense in general, but third-down defense, third-and-long defense in particular as well. A huge part of that’s the backend, your backers included, but it starts with getting a really good pass rush. I’m excited about the growth that I’ve seen so far.”
On how LEOs Josh Josephs and James Pearce Jr. have progressed
“First of all, those guys have dramatically changed their habits off the field. They changed their bodies because of that within what we’re doing strength and nutrition and their level of play and understanding of what we’re doing has continued to grow in a really big way. I’ve said this before but there’s a difference between guys that come in in mid year — I’m talking about true freshmen — and guys that show up late May, early June. Those guys were both June arrivals last year. They did some really positive things last year but they’ve had a really good offseason of continued growth.”
On if anyone is separating from the pack in the secondary
“Similar to offensive line, right? You have to have contingency plans as far as where guys are going to truly navigate to get your best five on the field. You’ve got to have some depth at those positions too and rotate some during the course of a ball game. We got some young guys that have really grown here over the last 11, 12 practices. Excited about them. They’ll play some defensive snaps but they’ll play a ton on special teams too. Our vets, I’m excited about the guys that maybe missed a little bit of time last year and are here early in training camp. I feel like they’ve really grown in our schemes and understanding communication, fundamentals and technique. The next couple weeks are hugely important as we get everybody back healthy to make sure we grow the right way before kickoff.”
On Jaylen Wright’s offseason and camp
“He’s been healthy throughout the course of training camp. His body is dramatically different. He’s one of the guys that we recognize as we started training camp for what he had done in the offseason and the changes that he had continued to make to his body. Been very intentional in his work and has continued to grow and being able to have a championship mindset. Being able to reset from play-to-play. Play with passion. Not playing just straight out of emotion. Been great with the young backs. He’s been a great leader and great teacher for those guys. He’s into it even when he’s not the guy getting the reps. On the football side of it, he’s a guy that, as you said, early in his career just wanted to run around everything and use his speed to his advantage. That’s how he had developed as a young back in high school with some of what they did. He can still do all of those things but he has really good vision. He understands blockers. He understands how to use them. He delivers double teams to the second level. He finds space. His vision on the backdoor cuts has grown. He’s doing it at the right time. He’s playing at a really high level.”
On the secondary depth
“We absolutely are deeper on the second level or the second and third levels. The growth of the young guys inside of our program that can be at the linebacker spot. Guys that were here playing, a lot of them at special teams, last year. Elijah (Herring) and Kalib (Perry), those two guys in particular. The young guys that we’ve added. The true freshman at that position— Arion Carter has had a great training camp. I said it I think a week ago but he’s taken a major step from where he finished spring ball. I’ll say the same thing about (Jeremiah) Telander and Jalen (Smith) too. On the third level, the young guys are going to play some snaps for us. We have great competition that creates urgency in the meeting room, creates urgency in the offseason. It shows up in the way they play and compete on the practice field and today when we’re inside the stadium. We have guys that are vets that played a lot of football last year. Those guys have all taken a step in their understanding of how we want to play too. So we absolutely have more depth, more competition and as we get closer to kickoff figuring out the rotation as those guys continue to compete and show that they’re going to play at a championship level.”
