Fingers
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One group of players working on the side included offensive linemen John Campbell Jr., Gage Ginther and Jeremias Heard. The other group included defensive end Caleb Herring, wide receiver Braylon Staley and Trey Weary and defensive back William Wright. Running back Dylan Sampson continued to be held out and was not in a brace inside before he put one on his knee to go work on the side outside.
Christian Harrison, who is in the mix at Star, was in a red non-contact jersey and had a brace on his left arm, but was going through drills normally with the defensive backs.
On the offensive line, Lance Heard was going through drills normally and lined up first at left tackle for some one-on-one pass-rush drills as we were leaving, and Andrej Karic was in uniform and involved in drills as well.
The wide receivers were more complete, too, with Bru McCoy, Dont’e Thornton Jr. and Mike Matthews all running routes.
Tennessee’s passing game work was up and down this morning. After working a lot of underneath routes, the Vols did air it out with some deep balls to end the final period. There were a lot of completions, but still too many inaccurate throws and drops considering there’s no defense.
On the deep balls, Nico Iamaleava just overthrew Bru McCoy before hitting Chas Nimrod (who had to slow a little) and Chris Brazzell II for connections. Gaston Moore then hit both Dont’e Thornton Jr. and Kaleb Webb in stride. Jake Merklinger connected with Mike Matthews and Nate Spillman down the seam after missing a walk-on slot receiver down the seam.
Squirrel White was doing routes but had a drop and then Iamaleava threw high and behind him and he couldn’t adjust on a simple out route. Thornton also had a drop. McCoy, Matthews and Nathan Leacock had some nice catches.
p.brownMcCoy continues to look like he’s getting back in the groove coming off his ankle injury.
Wide receiver Bru McCoy seemed to getting more work today than he has all camp long. He was running around and doing everything today with a smile on his face. Remember, he is still not likely to get any work in scrimmages this fall, but he didn’t appear to be held back at all today.Wide receiver Bru McCoy seemed to getting more work today than he has all camp long. He was running around and doing everything today with a smile on his face. Remember, he is still not likely to get any work in scrimmages this fall, but he didn’t appear to be held back at all today.
The other No. 5 (Christian Harrison) was in a red jersey this morning after picking up the start at STAR on Friday night. He was going through everything while the media was on hand, but did have a red jersey on. Cameron Seldon, of course, had a red jersey on. Receivers Kaleb Webb, Mike Matthews and Dont’e Thornton were not in red jerseys and running routes on air with the rest of the group.
Running back Dylan Sampson did not take part in individual period while the media was in attendance. He was of to the side (brace on left knee) hanging out with a trainer. It is not believed to be anything series, but he will not do any scrimmage work this fall before the season.
Though Ethan Davis has come a long way in the blocking side of things, he simply looks awesome running routes. He’s at home there and will be a prime target for Nico Iamaleava this season.
Jermod McCoy had a good scrimmage the other night and it appears he’s leading that corner group. It also helps when you have James Pearce up front wreaking havoc.
e.cainKelsey Pope was giving some 1-on-1 attention to freshman Mike Matthews, who was getting more work today than he has in a while. Brazzell, Thornton and Davis all made some pretty nice catches down the field during routes on air. We thought the quarterbacks had a good day throwing the football. Jake Merklinger looks to be more comfortable and confident at this stage in camp.
- 1s: X - Bru McCoy, Y - Squirrel White, Z - Chris Brazzell II, H - Miles Kitselman
- 2s: X - Dont'e Thornton, Y - Chas Nimrod, Z - Kaleb Webb, H - Holden Staes
- 3s: X - Nathan Leacock, Y - Dayton Sneed, Z - Nate Spillman, H - Ethan Davis
- 4s: X - Mike Matthews, Y - Braylon Harmon, Z - Malcolm Kinzer, H - Charlie Browder
Maybe the worst we've seen Nico Iamaleava all fall. Obviously nothing to worry about, but he had a decent amount of throws he'll want back. Sometimes, receivers weren't helping him while other times he was just off the mark. Deep balls weren't too accurate and curl routes sailed on some throws. He mixed in some really nice throws but it was one of his weaker sessions in the few periods we're allowed to see. On a trio of deep balls, he overthrew Bru McCoy, had a nice one to Chas Nimrod and then underthrew Chris Brazzell but he was able to turn around and catch it.
Jake Merklinger looked really solid. Especially on deep balls where he hit guys in stride. We saw some other backups not have the arm strength to put the ball out in front on shots down the field but Merklinger mostly had it on the money. Really impressed with the freshman today.
Dont'e Thornton looked really good against air today. His size and speed are absurd when you watch up close. If he can put it together like it looked like he started to before getting hurt last year, he could be a cheat code.
Defensively, Arion Carter was the most vocal I've seen him all fall.
Andre Turrentine had an issue picking up a fumble during a drill and was harder on himself than any of the coaches were.
Edrees Farooq caught an 'interception' against air in the back of the end zone which fired up some of the coaches.
r.sylviaFrom a distance, I liked what I saw from the running back room. They worked on agility in the back corner before exploding through the simulated line. Khalifa Keith specifically caught my eye. For being such a massive back, he's pretty nimble on his feet and can get going in a hurry. Obviously, play time is for the taking behind Sampson and he could be a name to monitor.