ForumsTennessee head coach Derek Dooley was glad to see the familiar face of Janzen Jackson on the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center turf during Monday’s practice.
Jackson has been nursing a hamstring injury that kept him on the sidelines for both of last week’s scrimmages. The sophomore from Lake Charles, La., is an absolute player of importance to the 2010 Vols defense. He participated in UT’s light Monday workout in shorts and shoulder pads.
“He’s one of our best players on defense,” Dooley said. “It hurt us not to have him there.
“Now, the key is let’s get him back to where he’s 100 percent. You’ve got to be careful when you bring them back off an injury like that. You can work them too hard and you’re back to the drawing board.”
Jackson’s return to the free safety slot moves sophomore Prentiss Waggner over to strong safety and slides freshman Brent Brewer to the second line on the depth chart. Waggner and Brewer started each of the scrimmages with the first unit.
Another member of the secondary, cornerback Anthony Anderson, is playing it safe after walking out of Neyland Stadium on Saturday night in a neck brace.
“He took a hit but it’s nothing serious,” Dooley said of the Knoxville junior. “Hopefully, we’ll have him back — if not Tuesday then the next day.”
Dooley also announced that two members of the 2010 signing class would not qualify for enrollment.
“John Brown and Marcques Dixon are not qualifiers, so they won’t be with us this fall. It wasn’t a big surprise; we knew they were high risk. They are weighing their options, so I don’t know where they are going to go. They are seeing what’s out there for them.
Brown is a defensive lineman from Lakeland, Fla., who played last season at Northeast Mississippi Community College, while Dixon is an athlete from Decatur, Ga.
STOCKER NAMED TO MACKEY WATCH LIST
Tennessee senior Luke Stocker is one of 32 players named to the 2010 John Mackey Award preseason watch list Nassau County (N.Y.) Sports Commission. Given annually to the best collegiate tight end, the award recipient is announced Dec. 9.
Stocker, a Berea, Ky., native, caught 29 passes for 389 yards last year and was second on the Tennessee squad with five receiving touchdowns. He ended the regular season with a flurry, catching a combined 10 passes against Vanderbilt and Kentucky for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
NFL Hall of Fame member John Mackey is considered to be the best to have played the tight end position. A tight end by whom all others are measured, Mackey was a role model on and off the field as demonstrated by his Super Bowl Championship, his commitment to community and his place in history as the first President of the NFLPA.
The John Mackey Award, presented since 2000, lists nine NFL players as alumni: Dallas Clark (‘01) of the 2006 Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts, two-time Super Bowl Champion Daniel Graham (‘02) of the Denver Broncos, Kellen Winslow II (‘03) of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, two-time Super Bowl Champion Heath Miller (‘04) of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Marcedes Lewis (‘05) of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Matt Spaeth (‘06) of the of the 2008 Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, Fred Davis (‘07) of the Washington Redskins, Chase Coffman (‘08) of the Cincinnati Bengals and the 2009 John Mackey Award recipient Aaron Hernandez of the New England Patriots.
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