A trio of key Tennessee football players exited the Vols’ 19-14 loss against Arkansas on Saturday night and didn’t end up finishing the game.
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel didn’t delve too far into the details during his Monday press conference but did confirm that none of Bru McCoy, Squirrel White or Bryson Eason suffered season ending injuries in the loss.
“None of the injuries are long-term, season-ending injuries,” Heupel said Monday. “As we go through the week, we’ll find out exactly where everybody’s at. You guys can look forward to the injury report on Wednesday.”
McCoy suffered what looked to be a lower leg injury on the second play of the second half when he caught a short pass and was down after the play. The super senior receiver returned to the game sporadically in the second half but was not in the game for either of Tennessee’s two final drives of the game.
The veteran receiver is second on Tennessee’s team in both receptions (14) and receiving yards (209) and has been one of Iamaleava favorite targets this season.
Another starting receiver, Squirrel White, went down with an injury after he was unable to corral a low Iamaleava pass on the second to last drive of the game. White did not return to the game and was wearing a sling following the game’s conclusion.
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It’s been a disappointing start for White in his junior season at Tennessee. The slot receiver’s caught just 15 passes for 159 yards through the first five games of the season after totaling 803 yards as a sophomore a season ago.
Tennessee has depth in a receiver room that’s struggled to produce so far this season. If neither White nor McCoy can go against Florida on Saturday, a number of players will likely see an increase in reps including juniors Chas Nimrod and Kaleb Webb as well as five-star freshman Mike Matthews.
Defensive tackle Bryson Eason suffered an injury in the third quarter of the Arkansas game and was down on the ground before limping off the field with the help of two coaches. He didn’t return to the game.
Tennessee has an abundance of depth along the defensive line and at defensive tackle. If Eason is sidelined, Omari Thomas, Elijah Simmons, Omarr Norman-Lott and Daevin Hobbs will all likely see their workload mildly increase.
The first availability report for Tennessee football’s SEC home opener against Florida comes out at 8:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday night. That will help give us more clarity as to who will and won’t play this week against the Gators.
Kickoff between Tennessee and Florida is at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday night. Bob Wischusen, Louis Riddick and Kris Budden are on the call for ESPN.
