Tennessee football is down one defensive lineman against Virginia. Vols’ coach Josh Heupel announced that defensive tackle Elijah Simmons is out for the season opener Thursday morning.
“A guy that’s been great all training camp and really all offseason,” Heupel said of Simmons. “He’ll be out for this one but we’ll see where that goes moving forward.
Tennessee hasn’t specified what Simmons injury is but the senior defensive tackle was walking around campus on crutches Tuesday.
The Nashville native has totaled 29 tackles in his career including 10 last season. Simmons was a backup defensive tackle on the Vols’ inaugural season depth chart earlier this week behind senior Omari Thomas.
With Simmons sidelined, more opportunities are available for Kurrott Garland, Bryson Eason and Daevin Hobbs.
Simmons is entering his redshirt senior season and was generating buzz this fall camp. The massive 6-foot-2, 340-pound defensive tackle has always had talent but finding consistency kept him from earning a massive role.
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“I can tell you thus far through camp, he is having a really good start in camp,” Tennessee defensive line coach Rodney Garner said of Simmons earlier this month. “I think he sees that. So hopefully he is gaining a bit more confidence. Hopefully he likes the direction he is headed in, and we all just have to keep encouraging, pushing, prodding and all that.
“It’s just like I told the guys the other day, obviously if you can’t push yourself, then you need to be man enough to allow others to push you. Because there are some guys who can’t push themselves, but then they have to allow their teammates to push them, allow their coaches to push them. If you can’t push yourself and won’t allow others to push you, then we have a problem.”
Simmons is the only Tennessee player in the two-deep that is definitively out for the season opener though center Cooper Mays’ status is still unclear.
Virginia football is down one key starter for the season opener as returning sack leader Chico Bennett Jr. is out for the non conference matchup.
Kickoff from Nissan Stadium in Nashville is at noon ET Saturday. Joe Tessitore, Jesse Palmer and Katie George are on the call for ABC.
