Tennessee football returned to the Anderson Training Center on Wednesday morning for its eighth practice of the spring.
The first three sessions of practice were open to the media meaning we got to watch approximately the first 20 minutes of practice so, per usual, there’s only so many observations that one can glean.
Here’s our notes and observations from practice the Vols’ fifth spring practice.
Offense
Let’s start with absences and injuries where receivers Garrett Young and Bru McCoy, offensive guard Javontez Spraggins and Andrej Karic were all working off to the side during the open portion of practice.
Running back Cameron Seldon was not at practice as he’s out for the rest of the spring after having shoulder surgery. I also didn’t spot center Cooper Mays at practice though it’s possible that I just missed him or he joined the team after the open portion of practice.
Let’s start at the offensive line where the interior of Tennessee’s offensive line was working in three-player sets. The Vols offensive tackles were working off to the side during the open portion of practice. With Mays not out there, Vysen Lang, Dayne Davis and early enrollee freshman William Satterwhite were working at center.
We didn’t get to see anything from the tight ends on Wednesday as they moved outside to work during most of the open portion of practice.
It wasn’t particularly Tennessee’s sharpest day during the routes on air portion of practice. Nico Iamaleava overthrew Squirrel White on an out route, early enrollee freshman Braylon Staley got some work with Iamaleava and did drop one pass over the middle. Besides that, Iamaleava was pretty efficient.
But it wasn’t the best day for his backups. Early enrollee freshman Jake Merklinger dropped one snap and but picked it up and made an accurate throw. Offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Joey Halzle was frequently working with Merklinger between reps.
