Fingers
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Defensive linemen Tyler Baron and Omarr Norman-Lott were dressed in full, but stretched off to the side with a trainer before individual. Defensive backs Wesley Walker and Tamarion McDonald were both dressed in full and going through individual workouts with the safeties for the first time in over a week. Cornerback Gabe Jeudy-Lally was donning a red non-contact jersey this morning, but was going through drills with his teammates while the media was present. We did not see offensive lineman Larry Johnson during our brief stint on the practice field. He was in street clothes on Sunday morning.
When the line went to inside run, Dayne Davis was running with the ones at right tackle with Gerald Mincey going with the twos. On the left side, it was John Campbell with the ones and JJ Crawford with the twos. Andrej Karic repped left guard with the ones during the drill while Ollie Lane went with the twos, after he snapped with the first group. That doesn’t mean those groups are the gospel – in fact, I wouldn’t count on that at all. They’ve been moving guys around in camp to work with different combinations.
Freshman tight end Ethan Davis made a really nice one-handed catch down the far sideline on a throw from Nico Iamaleava. That was the highlight of the drill for sure.
e.cainWe mentioned up top that the quarterbacks threw well during the 1-on-1’s portion of practice. Still, the defensive backs made some plays on the ball as well. Jordan Matthews was all over Ramel Keyton on a fade to the end zone to force an incompletion. DeShawn Rucker got his hand in to bat away a ball. Jaylen McCollough also helped force an incompletion against Dont’e Thornton over the middle.
Cameron Seldon had a club on his right hand
Charlie Browder made the catch of the day on a great one-handed grab
Jack Jancek was very impressive
r.sylviaChristian Harrison stands out as one of the better young defensive backs
Along the offensive line, Ollie Lane continues to work as the first team center during the drill portion of practice with Texas transfer Andrej Karic sliding in at left guard.
I won’t touch too much on the routes on air portion of practice since we got red zone competition but Joe Milton III and Nico Iamaleava were both efficient in their work. The only incompletion I saw from either was a Iamaleava pass over the middle to McCallan Castles. Castles could have hauled it in but the throw was high and not an easy catch.
BYU transfer Gabe Jeudy-Lally had a red jersey on and did not do the red zone competition work. It’s the first time we’ve seen anyone in a red jersey (besides a quarterback) all camp and the first time Jeudy-Lally has been banged up.
Defensive linemen Omarr Norman-Lott and Tyler Baron were both fully dressed out but were working off to the side and not going through drills with the defensive linemen.
In a bit of good news, both Tamarion McDonald and Wesley Walker were full participants in the drill portion of practice though I don’t believe either competed in the red zone one-on-ones.
Josh Josephs continues to not only look better physically but is also just carrying himself with a lot of confidence right now. Of all the underclassmen defenders looking to step into a big role, Josephs might be the most ready.
r.schumpertFirst Round Of Reps
Bru McCoy somehow pulled a Milton slant out of Kamal Hadden’s body for a catch.
Milton’s pass over the middle to Jacob Warren was incomplete with Andre Turrentine in coverage. Pass interference could have been called.
Dont’e Thornton burnt Jaylen McCollough on a fade and hauled in Milton’s pass.
Ramel Keyton burnt Doneiko Slaughter on a slant and hauled in Milton’s pass.
Nico Iamaleava couldn’t connect with Chas Nimrod on a fade.
McCallan Castles used his body to box out Will Brooks and caught a Iamaleava pass over the middle.
Jack Jancek made one of the two plays of the period, hauling in a Iamaleava fade pass with one hand for a score.
Warren Burrell was in coverage as Iamaleava couldn’t connect with Kaleb Webb on a slant.
Ethan Davis put a nasty double move on Jack Luttrell and hauled in a Gaston Moore pass.
Moore couldn’t connect with Dayton Sneed or Trey Weary on back-to-back reps.
Navy Shuler’s first pass fell incomplete before Charlie Browder made a spectacular falling catch on a fade route.
Nate Spillman burnt Dee Williams on a slant and hauled in Shuler’s pass.
Second Round Of Reps
McCoy boxed out Hadden on a slant and hauled in a Milton pass.
Milton couldn’t connect with Warren on a fade route. Turrentine was in coverage.
McCollough had good coverage on a Thornton slant and knocked away Milton’s pass for an incompletion.
Jordan Matthews had fantastic coverage on a Ramel Keyton slant leading to a Milton incompletion.
Christian Harrison made a nice play knocking away a Iamaleava fade targeting Nimrod.
Emmanuel Okoye made a nice catch on a great Iamaleava fade pass, beating Luttrell for a score.
Kaleb Webb beat De’Shawn Rucker on a slant but dropped Iamaleava’s pass.
Christian Conyer was beat on a slant route but the receiver (didn’t get who it was) dropped a Iamaleava pass between the numbers.
John Slaughter made a great play, turning his head and knocking away a Moore pass on a fade route.
Moore connected with Sneed for a score. Weary beat Slaughter on a slant route and hauled in Moore’s pass for a score.
Arguably the most notable development on Tuesday morning was the return of defensive backs Tamarion McDonald and Wesley Walker to something close to a normal practice. The two projected starters – McDonald at Star and Walker at safety – have missed most of camp, Walker with a hamstring issue while McDonald was dealing with a couple of minor things.
Christian Charles still appears to be dealing with something as we didn’t see him on the practice field.
Cornerback Gabe Jeudy-Lally was in a non-contact jersey, but didn’t really appear to be held out of anything while we were out there.
Freshman running back DeSean Bishop could be out a while after hurting his ankle in last week’s scrimmage.
After going through the chute, the players split into five lines resembling their positions. Gerald Mincey was back at left tackle and running third in line behind John Campbell Jr. and Brian Grant, and Dayne Davis was back at right tackle running behind Jeremiah Crawford. So perhaps what we saw on Saturday (Mincey with the right tackles and Davis working at center) didn’t really pan out.
In the individual work, Ollie Lane was first up at center followed by Addison Nichols and Parker Ball. Right guard went Javontez Spraggins then Mo Clipper Jr. and left guard went Andrej Karic, Jackson Lampley and Vysen Lang. Freshmen Ayden Bussell (left guard) and Shamurad Umarov (left tackle) also got some work.
In this portion of practice, the first-team offensive line went Campbell at left tackle, Karic at left guard, Lane at center, Spraggins at right guard and Davis at right tackle. The second-team offensive line went Crawford at left tackle, Nichols at left guard, Lang at center, Lampley at right guard and Mincey at right tackle. The takeaway here is Tennessee is still very much searching for its best five that doesn’t include Cooper Mays at center.
The final open period of practice was off-limits for photo and video likely because it included some goal-line one-on-ones featuring the wide receivers and tight ends against the cornerbacks and safeties. It appeared the wideouts and tight ends were winning most of those individual matchups. Quarterbacks Joe Milton III and Nico Iamaleava also looked to be very accurate with their throws, whether it was strikes on slants and back-shoulders or on fades or corner routes in the back of the end zone.
The best catches from this session was a juggling toe-tapper from Jack Jancek in a matchup against William Wright out of the slot and a commanding one-hander from freshman tight end Ethan Davis that drew a reaction after he put a move on his defender on the route.
Tennessee’s top wideouts won their first matchups with Bru McCoy hauling in a very contested catch against Kamal Hadden, Dont’e Thornton Jr. getting separation on Brandon Turnage for a touchdown on a fade and Ramel Keyton beating Doneiko Slaughter on a slant. McCoy got Hadden a second time, and Thornton had a good back and forth with Jaylen McCollough, the wideout burning him once before the safety came back to get a PBU – the two gave each other some props after the second rep. Keyton also was a standout throughout the period, though freshman Jordan Matthews broke up one fade pass for him.
Tight end McCallan Castles won his first rep against Wright, using his big frame to box out the DB on a slant.
Defensively, Gabe Jeudy-Lally and Rickey Gibson III had good coverage reps to force incompletions, and Andre Turrentine was in good enough position to keep Jancek from coming down with a back-shoulder strike. De’Shawn Rucker was in good position on a slant against Kaleb Webb, who probably should have made the catch, and Christian Harrison had a breakup against Chas Nimrod. Freshman safety John Slaughter had textbook coverage on a fade and knocked it down at the high point.
p.brownFreshman wideout Nathan Leacock beat fellow rookie Cristian Conyer on a slant, but couldn’t complete the play with a catch, and Trey Weary got the best of Doneiko Slaughter on a slant. Leacock showed a good ability to get open on his routes. Webb had a slant pass for him broken up by Warren Burrell and couldn’t come up with a strike from Iamaleava.
