Tennessee football was back at the Haslam Practice Field on Wednesday morning two days after the Vols held their first scrimmage of spring practice.
Three periods of practice were open to the media meaning we watched roughly 20 minutes of practice with some of that coming during a stretching period. With a limited portion of practice open there are only so many observations to glean.
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Offense
Let’s start with some injury notes. Both Alabama receiver transfer Amari Jefferson and redshirt freshman tight end Cole Harrison were in yellow jerseys. The yellow jerseys are a little less severe than the red non contact uniforms. Duke transfer running back Star Thomas was in a red non contact uniform with some sort of brace/sleeve on his arm.
On the offensive line, both Jeremias Heard and Gage Ginther were off working off to the side and weren’t dressed out. Miles Kitselman is out for the rest of the spring but was offering some advice for younger tight ends.
Tennessee did its routes on air portion of practice in the red zone, working from the five yard line and then backing up to the 10-yard line. Nico Iamaleava led the group, throwing to Ethan Davis, Mike Matthews and Chris Brazzell. He also jumped back in at the back of the rotation and threw to Kyle Miller, Da’Saahn Brame and Tommy Winton.
It was a pretty strong period for Iamaleava who was mostly accurate throwing the football. Winton had one really nice catch on a fade route. Iamaleava and Davis were not in sync on one quick hitch route and they quickly re-ran the route and connected.
While Harrison and Jefferson were in yellow jerseys, they did go through the routes on air portion of practice.
Travis Smith Jr had a really nice catch on a Jake Merklinger throw while Jack Van Doreselaer dropped a pass on an out route that he reached with one arm with.
Defense
The injury report on the defensive side of the field is a good bit longer. Jermod McCoy and Jourdan Thomas remain out as they rehab torn ACLs. The two were tossing the football off to the side to open up practice. Christian Harrison, Marcus Goree Jr, Arian Carter, Jadon Perlotte, Jaedon Harmon, Jamal Wallace, Daevin Hobbs, Nathan Robinson and Emmanuel Okoye were all working off to the side.
With Carter out this spring, Jeremiah Telander has taken a real leadership in Tennessee’s linebacker room this spring. He and Edwin Spillman have gotten a ton of run this spring with Carter sidelined.
On the defensive line, Dominic Bailey, Bryson Eason, Jaxson Moi and Tyree Weathersby were the first four going through drills. Weathersby looks great entering his redshirt sophomore year and could be in line for a much bigger role in his third season.
Bailey did pushups after jumping offsides during one drills as as defensive analyst Robert Ayres. Defensive line coach Rodney Garner was getting after Isaiah Inge for jumping offsides himself.
In the secondary, defensive coordinator Tim Banks was walking Jakobe Thomas through a block shedding drill.
