Tennessee coach Josh Heupel addressed Gerald Mincey’s odd role during the Vols loss against Florida Saturday. But the third-year coach didn’t say much.
Mincey was cited for simple possession last Thursday in Knoxville before making the trip to Florida, dressing out and playing on special teams but not offense in the Vols’ loss.
Was his exclusion from the offensive side of the ball, where Mincey had been splitting right tackle snaps with Jeremiah Crawford, a punishment because of the citation?
“We just decided not to play him on the offensive side of the ball,” Heupel said.
But what about Tennessee’s decision to play Mincey on field goal units despite him not playing any right tackle?
“We just made that decision,” Heupel said.
Mincey was needed badly on the offensive line against Florida. The Vols’ front five performed poorly against the Gators, giving up a sack a quarterback hit which led to an interception and numerous other pressures in the 29-16 loss.
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And Crawford struggled more than anybody. The right tackle earned a 43.0 PFF grade while playing all 66 snaps offensive snaps in the game. Crawford’s PFF grade was the lowest of any Tennessee offensive player in the game.
Mincey has graded out higher than Crawford in both of Tennessee’s first two games of the season while the two split snaps.
After not playing on offense last week, what could Mincey’s role look like as Tennessee looks to bounce back against UTSA? Heupel was just as talkative about Mincey’s recent future as he was his role during Saturday’s loss.
“We have a long week here,” Heupel said. “We’ll go through the week.”
UTSA opened the season with New Years Six Bowl aspirations but is off to a rocky 1-2 start with losses against Houston and Army. Veteran quarterback Frank Harris didn’t play in last week’s loss against Army and his status is uncertain for this weekend’s matchup.
Kickoff at Neyland Stadium is at 4 p.m. ET. Dave Neal, former Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason and Taylor Davis are on the call for the SEC Network.
