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Tennessee Players Talk Upcoming Kentucky Matchup

By Ric Butler
- Oct 23, 2023

A trio of Tennessee football players met with the media in Knoxville on Monday afternoon to field a few questions before the Kentucky game in Lexington this coming Saturday night.

Tennessee’s three players included tight end McCallan Castles, defensive lineman Elijah Simmons, and cornerback Doneiko Slaughter.

Castles, a new player to Tennessee from the transfer portal this year, spoke about what he has heard about the Tennessee-Kentucky game without having yet experienced it. The Tennessee tight end also spoke about his relationship with veteran Jacob Warren and how that has made the tight end’s room more consistent this year.

“I think it’s just pushing each other in practice,” Castles said. “We get a lot of work with the quarterbacks, but not as much as the wide receivers so we make the most out of all those opportunities that we get. That way when you get that chance in the game you end up making the play. I think it’s just me and Jacob (Warren) both push each other in the route and we both talk about everything and watch film together.”

Elijah Simmons spoke about the Vols’ pass rush against Alabama and rebounding against Kentucky this weekend.

“We’re playing against SEC fronts, so those guys are obviously really good athletes, especially Alabama,” Simmons said on Monday. “They got stud dudes up there up front that even if they played the run gaps, they still can recover and make tackles off that. I think it’s just we got to execute better.”

And, lastly, Tennessee cornerback Doneiko Slaughter spoke about regaining the momentum through the week with the Kentucky game on the horizon and broke down the interception that he helped create against Alabama.

“Just going through my technique, having disciplined eyes and footwork,” Slaughter said. “I didn’t even know he had caught the ball, but that was a great play by my safety Jaylen McCollough hustling over there to get that turnover.”