Fingers
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(Today is the final time that practice is open to the media)
The only notable absences were cornerback Rickey Gibson III, who is dealing with a hamstring injury, and wide receiver Braylon Staley. Wideout Trey Weary, who had a brace on his right knee, and running back Hunter Barnes, both walk-ons, were not in uniform. Freshman linebacker Jordan Burns is still not practicing and is working to the side.
The pass-catchers won their fair share of the matchups with tight end Ethan Davis and slot receiver Squirrel White the best of the bunch.
There were some good DB reps, too. Will Brooks undercut a route by Miles Kitselman and might have completed the interception if not for the oven mitts. Jalen McMurray used his instincts to stay inside and under Kaleb Webb on his dig route in the back of the end zone, and was in such good position that the throw had to be delayed. Jordan Matthews had a couple of good reps, pushing Dont’e Thornton Jr. and Bru McCoy toward the boundary to force incompletions on both reps.
The defensive backs couldn’t lay a hand on the lightning-quick White, who shook Boo Carter on a slant and easily beat Christian Harrison inside on a dig.
Davis had a big-boy contested catch against Jakobe Thomas and snagged a back-shoulder throw against Edrees Farooq. It was one of those plays where he makes the catch and then holds the football high above his hand like it’s a Nerf styrofoam ball. He got a toe inbounds in the back corner of the end zone, too, with the official signaling touchdown.
Freshman receiver Mike Matthews easily won his reps against Kaleb Beasley and Colin Brazzell, both slants, but the first one went right through his hands to his own audible disgust. Chas Nimrod also cooked Christian Charles on a slant, Nathan Leacock got open to catch a slant on Brazzell and spring-game standout Dayton Sneed got the best of John Slaughter on a slant. McCoy beat Matthews in a rematch and Kitselman bested Andre Turrentine in a pair of matchups.
Chris Brazzell II shook Jermod McCoy to get enough separation and catch a slant for a touchdown, but McCoy had good reps in a rematch against Brazzell and Webb – the passes were caught but out of bounds on fades to the back corner of the end zone.
Other good DB reps came from Carter (pass breakup on an out route against Holden Staes), Harrison (good coverage on Harrison on a late throw), Beasley (rode Thornton out of bounds) and Thomas (tight coverage on Tommy Winton III).
The first group up on the offensive line had Lance Heard at left tackle, Jackson Lampley at left guard, Cooper Mays at center, Javontez Spraggins at right guard and Dayne Davis at right tackle.
p.brownIt also appears Satterwhite might have passed Vysen Lang among the backup options at center. Grant’s presence is a surprise, but we’d still expect a couple of other guards are ahead of him in the pecking order – Lampley likely would go there if anything happened to Spraggins after starting the final two games of 2023 at right guard.
Bru McCoy continues to be looking more and more ‘free’ at practices as he’s been doing more the past few than he was the first part of camp. Fellow receivers Dont’e Thornton, Mike Matthews and Kaleb Webb were also full-participants on Wednesday. Looked like Andrej Karic and John Campbell continue to do more these last few days as well. Both were taking part in individual periods. Cooper Mays was as well.
Running back Cam Seldon remained in a red jersey. He was joined in red by fellow tailback Peyton Lewis on Wednesday, though Lewis was moving around and going through individual periods. Defensive back Christian Harrison was sporting a brace on his left elbow, but was still taking part in drills. Remember, he was in a red jersey on Sunday and Monday, but did not have one on today. Jalen McMurray continues to look like he’s doing more and more as the weeks go on.
Cornerback Rickey Gibson was not seen at practice today, while the media was present. He has a sore hamstring and will likely not go in the scrimmage tomorrow. Freshman linebacker Jordan Burns continues to be sidelined.
When the offensive line and tailbacks came together for inside run, the ‘first’ o-line looked like this: Heard (LT), Lampley (LG), Mays (C), Spraggins (RG) and Davis (RT).
Kaleb Webb made a nice catch on a fade in the back corner of the endzone on a pass from Nico.
Also, the tight ends are going to be a real weapon in the redzone, in my opinion. All three of them – Ethan Davis, Holden Staes and Miles Kitselman – use their frame and strength to bully defenders. Now, they all need to be mindful that offensive pass interference is a thing. But hey, rubbin’ is racin’.
e.cainKitselman beat Turrentine
Matthews beat Boo Carter
Webb beat McMurray
Matthews beat Kaleb Beasley but dropped the pass
McMurray beat Holden Staes with a PBU
Davis beat an undefined Vol
Brazzell beat McCoy on a nice catch on a fade in back corner of endzone
Leacock won a rep over a walk-on defensive back
Will Brooks made a nice break on a ball and nearly had an interception
Nimrod beat Christian Charles
Jordan Matthews beat Bru
Davis hauled in a nice catch on fade
McMurray broke up a pass from Nico, intended for Webb
Squirrel dominated Christian Harrison (Squirrel is quick, shocker I know)
Matthews and Brazzell each had another TD catch
Jordan Matthews lost to Bru McCoy after giving way too much cushion
Kitselman bodied up Turrentine and won the rep (physical)
Chas Nimrod beat Boo Carter
Bru McCoy, Squirrel White and Kaleb Webb were the receivers working with Nico Iamaleava. Dont’e Thornton, Chas Nimrod and Chris Brazzell were the receivers working with Gaston Moore and Mike Matthews, Nate Spillman and Dayton Snead were the receivers working with Jake Merklinger. The tight ends rotated with all three main guys working with all three quarterbacks.
It was a mixed bag of results during the red zone routes on air work. Fade routes were particularly an issue for the group as a whole. Webb had one pass that he bobbled and couldn’t get his feet in bounds while Iamaleava overthrew McCoy on one rep.
With this being the final practice open to the media during camp it feels like a good time to discuss Jake Merklinger. The freshman quarterback was overall impressive with what we were about to watch of fall camp. He was accurate with the football and honestly pretty consistent for a freshman. The question for him is how well he can learn the offense and how consistent he can be operating it.
The most notable thing on the defensive side of the field was that I couldn’t spot Rickey Gibson during the open portions of practice. One of Tennessee’s projected starters at cornerback, Gibson was off to the side working during Monday’s practice.
Tennessee’s defensive line has stayed as healthy as any group to this point in fall camp. That probably won’t remain the case and that will be okay because Tennessee has an abundance of depth there.
r.schumpert
- Nico Iamaleava fade route to Dont’e Thornton was incomplete. Jordan Matthews had strong coverage.
- Miles Kitselman burned Andre Turrentine on a slant and hauled in an Iamaleava pass.
- Squirrel White beat Boo Carter on a slant and caught an Iamaleava pass.
- Iamaleava overthrew a fade to Kaleb Webb.
- Mike Matthews toasted Kaleb Beasley on a slant but dropped an accurate Gaston Moore pass.
- A Moore pass to Holden Staes was incomplete. Jalen McMurray had strong coverage.
- Ethan Davis beat Jakobe Thomas on a route and hauled in a Moore pass.
- Chris Brazzell beat Jermod McCoy on a slant and hauled in a Moore pass.
- Nathan Leacock beat Colin Brazzell on a slant and hauled in a Jake Merklinger pass.
- Chas Nimrod absolutely toasted Christian Charles on a slant and hauled in a Merkliner pass.
- A Merklinger pass to Kitselman was incomplete.
- Matthews ran Bru McCoy off his outbreaking route and Iamaleava’s pass was incomplete.
- Ethan Davis made the play of the session, beating Christian Harrison on a fade and hauling in an Iamaleava pass with one hand.
- Dayton Snead beat John Slaughter on a slant and hauled in an Iamaleava pass.
- McCoy beat Jalen McMurray on a route and hauled in a pass.
- Thornton caught a Moore pass on a fade but it was a tad overthrown and he couldn’t get his feet in Beasley was in coverage.
- Carter broke up a Moore slant intended for Staes.
- White beat Harrison on a slant and caught Moore’s pass.
- Jermod McCoy had good coverage on a Moore fade route intended for Brazzell.
- Matthews burnt Brazzell on a slant and hauled in Moore’s pass.
- Thomas was in coverage on a Merklinger incompletion intended for Tommy Winton.
- Will Brooks nearly had an interception on a Merklinger out route intended for Nate Spillman.
- Bru McCoy beat Matthews on a slant and hauled in an Iamaleava pass.
- Kitselman beat Turrentine on a quick out and caught an Iamaleava pass.
- Nimrod beat Carter on a slant and hauled in an Iamaleava pass.
Nico Iamaleava:
- Dont'e Thornton drops a pass at the pylon but nearly brought it in with one hand. Solid coverage from Jordan Matthews
- Dayton Sneed easily beat Andre Turrentine on an in-route for a completion
- Squirrel White got a lot of separation on Boo Carter across the middle for a completion
- Kaleb Webb couldn't handle a back pylon catch, caught it but was out-of-bounds when he got possession, guarded by Jalen McMurray, pretty nice throw
Gaston Moore:
- Mike Matthews drop on an in-route guarded by Kaleb Beasley. Shouldn't been caught. He was frustrated with himself.
- Christian Harrison swatted down a ball intended for Holden Staes at the back pylon. Good coverage.
- Ethan Davis beat Jakobe Thomas across the middle for an easy completion.
- Chris Brazzell II beat Jermod McCoy for an easy completion across the middle.
Jake Merklinger:
- Nathan Leacock beat Colin Brazzell pretty bad for an easy completion on an in-route.
- Will Brooks should've had an interception but he had the oven mits on so can't blame him. Miles Kitselman on the route covered tightly.
- Chas Nimrod beat Christian Charles on an in-route for a easy completion.
- Nate Spillman guarded well by Marcus Goree Jr. on a pylon ball which fell incomplete.
Nico Iamaleava:
- Incomplete on a target to Bru McCoy but it was likely DPI on Jordan Matthews. Depends how physical the crew was letting them play in a game.
- Ethan Davis brought in a really nice toe-touch at the back pylon over Edrees Farooq. Really nice ball from Nico Iamaleava.
- Dayton Sneed beat John Slaughter for an easy completion over the middle.
- Jalen McMurray completely shut down Kaleb Webb on an in-route to force an incompletion.
- Kaleb Beasly shut down Dont'e Thornton to cause an incompletion.
Gaston Moore:
- Holden Staes dropped a pass but it was really nice coverage from Boo Carter to make things tough.
- Squirrel White with easy separation on Christian Harrison over the middle.
- Chris Brazzell II made a really nice catch but was out-of-bounds in the back of the end zone. Guarded nicely by Jermod McCoy.
Jake Merklinger:
- Mike Matthews with an easy win over Colin Brazzell for a completion.
- Jakobe Thomas clamped Tommy Winton III at the pylon for an incompletion.
- Montrell Bandy good defense on Nate Spillman to force an incompletion.
Nico Iamaleava:
- Bru McCoy beat Jordan Matthews for a completion over the middle.
- Really nice route from Miles Kitselman who used his body to seal off Andre Turrentine before catching it at the front pylon and falling into the end zone.
- Chas Nimrod beat Boo Carter on an in-route for a completion.
Iamaleava, Moore and Merklinger all looked good against air today. No complaints on any of them. Pretty much everything I saw looked like it was where it needed to be. Moore had one overthrow but was fine besides that.
r.sylviaArion Carter continues to catch my eye. He just seems a notch faster than the rest of his room and he's clearly put on a bunch of muscle. He is in line to have a really impressive season assuming he stays healthy.
