Tennessee football returned to the practice field Thursday morning, the first day of work following the scrimmage on Tuesday. The team was in shells (shoulder pads and helmet) and there were several guys not taking part in drills, as is common coming off a physical scrimmage day.
Elijah Simmons and Solon Page were both going through stretches and some work indoor before the team went outside. No pads for either of them. Simmons, who was a bit banged up over the weekend, did not scrimmage on Tuesday. Freshman wideout Squirrel White was not dressed or going through drills today as he, too, was slightly banged up in the scrimmage. Nothing to worry about with those guys – they will be fine.
I did not see Christian Harrison at practice today, which suggests he’s inside doing other work. Harrison was in a red non-contact jersey on Monday, the last practice before the scrimmage. Kamal Hadden again was not practicing as he could be seen inside doing some stretched with Elijah Simmons. Cheyenne LaBruzza was still in a red jersey.
Some players who were back in action, or at least partially, were Bru McCoy and Jaylen Wright. McCoy was in shells running routes and going through individual while Wright was seen going through drills with the running backs for the first time this camp. That’s a big step for Wright to get back into the fold of things and we will need to continue monitoring how much he does – I’m sure there’s a plan there for working him back in.
As AP pointed out on the board Tuesday, McCoy did not scrimmage. It was good to see him back out on the field today after being limited some dating back to Saturday’s practice.
Now to practice, it was a standard day-after-scrimmage vides type practice. Yes, I know it’s technically two days – but you catch my drift. Coaches, such as Rodney Garner, were preaching the word ‘finish’ while we were out there. “Don’t cut corners.” “Finish the drill” Stuff like that. Guys are sore and tired – so the staff did their part to keep the energy level up during individual.
We got to see the quarterbacks air it out some today as each one took their turn taking a shot down the field on a vert or deep post. Joe Milton (as you’d expect) threw the prettiest *practice* deep ball today, one of which Walker Merrill hauled in on the sideline – a really, really nice looking play from Merrill. Hendon Hooker connected on deep shots to Hyatt and Warren while Tayven Jackson hooked up with Kaleb Webb down the field.
Not every ball was perfect and some of the receivers had to slow down to let the ball catch up – but overall, that portion of routes on air looked pretty clean. Now to the intermediate throws and it was another sluggish period, in my opinion. Quarterbacks and receivers weren’t on the same page at times for options routes (Hooker, Keyton) or a receiver broke too soon and was in front of the ball (Miles Campbell, Milton).
Kelsey Pope was animated during the period while Alex Golesh took the opportunity as a teachable moment. Not like there were a lot of balls on the ground or anything, but you could tell it wasn’t as crisp as it could be. That’s about the fourth practice in-a-row where we’ve said that for at least one portion of routes on air.
Remember, we were very complimentary of the chemistry between quarterbacks and receivers for the first week of camp.
Glen Elarbee was very much in ‘teach’ mode with the offensive line during individual this morning, taking a lot of time in between each rep to explain some things. To my count, every offensive lineman of note appeared to be present and accounted for. That’s always a good thing coming off a scrimmage day.
The cornerbacks were practicing flipping their hips and running down field with receivers while the safeties were drilling run support, working inside the box. Linebackers were doing their normal work (while we re there) of stance & steps + run reads.
The atmosphere wasn’t horrible this morning, but I wouldn’t say it was a lively session while we were out there. Again, that’s somewhat a given following an OFF day and scrimmage. Still, work was getting done and players were flying around as representatives from the Lions, Commanders, Titans, Steelers and Seahawks were all on hand for this morning’s workout.
It’s a cool, overcast morning and we’ll see if the rain holds off for Tennessee to complete the rest of its practice. Wide receiver’s coach Kelsey Pope will meet with the media today around 11:15 and will be followed by Jalin Hyatt, Ramel Keyton and Walker Merrill.
