Vols passing game struggles; Griffin out with wrist injury
Tennessee is now 12 practices through an allotted 15 spring workouts and with just a final week left before the Vols exhaust their exercises, Butch Jones will be concentrating on one aspect of his team’s performance: ratcheting up the passing game.
“I thought our defense came to play today. A lot of situations. I thought we were able to generate a pass rush,” Jones began his opening statement after Saturday’s practice. “(I) was not pleased with the way we played on offense. We had way too many dropped footballs.
“We have to be able to execute better in the throw game and that will be a point of emphasis as we close out spring football next week.”
Even though the offense was again missing multiple regular contributors, Jones was quick to say there was no single position or player to blame for the Vols’ mishaps on Saturday in Neyland Stadium in a scrimmage-like setting. Both quarterbacks, Josh Dobbs and Quinten Dormady, threw interceptions.
Jones, however, made clear the blame seemed to go around evenly.
“It’s a combination of a lot of things. It may be a pass protection breakdown, a missed assignment or flat-out losing your one-on-one,” Jones said. “It’s not just the offensive line. It can be a back, it can be a tight end. But, from what I saw today it was a combination.
“Everyone is one out of 11. One time it’s a dropped ball, one time it’s a missed pass protection and that starts to accumulate. We have to do a much better job of protecting the quarterback and then catching the ball on the perimeter as well.”
With Tennessee returning an experienced offense, offensive coordinator Mike DeBord, along with Jones, have talked about wanting to expand the offense for the Vols.
That includes throwing more on ‘mixed downs’ and on early downs. But, for that to happen, Jones wants to be able to see more production out of the passing game.
“It all goes hand-in-hand in being an effective throw team. We did a great job on third down last year but we want to throw drop-back pass on first down,” Jones explained. “That’s really, kind of, one of the changes offensively; more drop back passes on first-and-10 and what we call mixed downs. When we throw the football we have to be 65 to 70 percent in terms of competition percentage and there’s a lot that goes into that.
“Like I said, it’s everyone being responsible for their job and execute their assignment and their one-on-one matchup and that starts with the quarterbacks as well. Again, just not pleased with the throw game and we need to step it up these last couple of practices.”
The Vols do, on the other hand, continue to feature an incredibly dynamic backfield duo of Alvin Kamara and Jalen Hurd, as well as promising sophomore John Kelly.
"Jalen works super hard. We always push each other to work hard," Kamara said. "We just want to kill it. We haven't really set exact, specific goals, but it's kind of an understanding between me and him. We want to do it big."
With the inconsistencies came turnovers on Saturday, which was at least a good thing for a defense that’s been searching for ball disruption. On the other hand, it spelled concern for the offense.
“We were able to generate a couple of turnovers in terms of interceptions. But, again, not enough balls on the ground defensively,” Jones said. “I think it gets back to just continuing to work and strive for the ball disruptions. On the flip side it’s taking care of the football offensively.”
ANOTHER MAN DOWN
Sophomore safety Stephen Griffin was out of Saturday’s practice, and sources confirmed to VolQuest.com that Griffin is done for the spring after suffering a hand/wrist injury that required surgery.
A three-star safety from Charlotte, N.C., Griffin appeared in eight games a year ago and recorded five solo tackles, one for loss. He also played on special teams after shaking off some injuries that prevented him from appearing in more contests.
Griffin is expected to resume working out with the Vols in six to eight weeks.
KELLY COMING ON
At one point during the scrimmage on Saturday, Alvin Kamara looked at Jalen Hurd and noted that they needed to be in there seeing live bullets. Then realization hit that this spring is about staying healthy in preparation for fall. Seeing a lot of that work has been sophomore John Kelly, who continues to impress.
"He's matured a lot more from last season," Kamara said. "He's understanding schemes better and protections. He's changed his body a lot in the weight room and that's helped him on the field. He's maturing and understanding what it takes to be a college football player and a running back at Tennessee."