Vols dealing with more injuries as spring camp nears finish
Chalk up two more players to the University of Tennessee’s spring football injury body count, with perhaps nearly as many players requiring green jerseys this weekend as orange, white or gray for the Vols’ annual Orange & White Game.
As VolQuest.com first reported, redshirt-freshman wideout Vincent Perry is out for the remainder of spring with a minor knee injury. Jauan Jennings, per head coach Butch Jones, also is out for the remainder of spring though Jones declined to discuss the nature of the setback. Multiple sources indicated to VolQuest.com that Jennings likewise has a minor leg injury.
Jones said both players were due back “by mid-June.”
“It’s been a challenge with the overall health of the receiver position now with Jauan Jennings being out, Vincent Perry being out,” Jones said. “Yeah, they’ll be out and they should both be back by mid-June. I’m not going to tell you what it is.”
Jones then immediately referenced the return of second-year cornerback Justin Martin, who had been out for two weeks with what first was termed “flu” and later said by staffers to be a case of “tonsillitis.”
“It was good to have Justin Martin back, he’s been battling a sickness for the last couple of weeks,” Jones said. “He’s lost a lot of weight, so we had him in a non-contact jersey. But just to get him out here and get him running around.”
Jones said that Martin was not allowed around his teammates.
“He would step in but no he missed the meetings, so he was making sure he was taking care of himself,” Jones explained. “Checking in with the trainers every day and all of that, but we needed to make sure we got him over his illness.”
It’s the second-straight camp that Martin has missed significant time. He was out throughout much of last August after hyperextending his knee during the Vols’ rash of pre-season injuries.
This camp also has featured a large volume of injuries, with nearly 20 players out for the entirety of spring or multiple practices. The number of scholarship players to miss at least one practice is more than 20 this spring.
“Any time you miss practice, that’s a challenge in and of itself,” Jones said specifically of Martin. “I know he’s a prideful young man and he wants to get back and he was antsy, he tried to go a couple times but he couldn’t go.
“Any time you miss practice, especially when you only have so many opportunities in the spring. Not only just on the field but in the classroom and in the weight room as well.”
The Vols entered spring camp with a bevy of players held out, largely due to offseason shoulder surgeries such as Derek Barnett, Josh Malone, Kendal Vickers, Chance Hall, Jashon Robertson and others. Since spring camp opened, Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Austin Smith also suffered shoulder injuries after the onset of practice while Perry, Jennings and Stephen Griffin (hand/wrist that required surgery) also have endured spring-ending injuries.
LEARNING EXPERIENCE
For the Vol offense despite all the experience returning this spring, the first 13 practices have resulted in some growing pains at times as they have added new offensive elements and they have seen plenty of new from first year defensive coordinator Bob Shoop.
One of those learning this spring is senior quarterback Josh Dobbs, who has an SEC high 22 starts and has appeared in 24 games.
“It's continuous improvement. I feel like I have done some good things this spring,” Dobbs said. “There's always things you can improve on. We have installed different things. Obviously, we have gotten different looks from coach Shoop and the defense. It's been a very productive spring for me and the entire offense.”
Last Saturday was not the offense's most productive day particularly throwing the football as Jones noted in his post scrimmage media talk inside Neyland Stadium. Dobbs admitted Saturday was tough. He was down a couple of receivers and things were scripted, but overall, Dobbs believes the offense has gotten better.
“There's obviously a lot of different things that went into Saturday,” Dobbs offered. “We were down a couple of receivers. The defense was doing different stuff and we were doing different stuff. It was all scripted situations. You made the most of it. We had some good plays. Cody (Blanc) had a touchdown catch. Preston (Williams) did some good things and Jeff (George) is coming along. We got better and improved Saturday and that's all you want to do every time you take the field.”
Dobbs' challenge to himself and to his teammates before taking the field on Tuesday was to not waste the day.
“Just finishing strong,” Dobbs said. “We talked about it today. Just focusing on the details. Obviously, you get to the last week and it's a grind. You have been hitting for four straight weeks. Just finishing strong and still being crisp in our details and everything.”
TOUGH TO GAUGE
Both Jones and quarterback Josh Dobbs acknowledged some challenges to the Vols’ passing game this spring, due largely to injuries at both the wideout position and along the offensive front.
As noted above on Jennings and Perry, Tennessee has missed a number of wideouts at different times this spring including the proven Malone.
“We always knew everything was about timing, and it just hasn’t been Josh,” Jones said. “It’s been Quinten as well, but I think the receivers have stepped up.”
Added Dobbs, “Obviously, timing-wise things will change when you have different guys in there. From a fundamentals standpoint, you can just go out there and continue to hone them in and get more consistent at things. Having different guys out there can always make it tough but you can always improve on your fundamental work.”
JONES EXPECTING FESTIVE SATURDAY
In his three spring games as head coach, the averaged announced attendance under Jones has been 64,213. Saturday, Jones is expecting another big day in terms of attendance from fans, former players, as well as football.
“It will be typical of what we’ve done in the past, competitions, WR/DB comps, OL/DL comps, QB challenges, we’ve got a little special ending to that this year,” Jones said. “Punter competition, kicker challenge. We’re going to play football as well.”
Speaking of former players, future NFL Hall of Fame tight end and current Cowboy Jason Witten took in part of the Vols practice on Tuesday.
--