Practice No. 3 Observations: Tennessee puts the shoulder pads on for Saturday workout
Tennessee football was back in action Saturday morning inside the Anderson Training Facility and out on the Haslam Field. It was the third practice of the fall camp session and the first with shoulder pads. The Vols will continue with shoulder pads for at least one more practice before it’s full pads near the first of next week.
Media was present for periods 0-2, which was roughly 20 minutes. Following rh practice, assistant coach William Inge will speak to reporters. Linebackers Arion Carter, Edwin Spillman, Jalen Smith and Kalib Perry will also be made available to the media. Tennessee will be back on the practice field Sunday morning, but there will be no media to follow.
A reminder that these observations are a combination of notes from the Volquest staff. The first string, second string, etc notes are not the gospel, rather, how the players were lined up on the given day. Players who are off to the side (injured) while the media is present might be getting more work after we leave. There is plenty we will miss and there’s still about 18 periods that we won’t be allowed to see. These are simply observations and nothing more.
Injury Report
Cam Seldon and Lance Heard seem to be progressing nicely. The sophomore running back is still donning a red non-contact jersey, but continues to be going through individual drills with his fellow teammates. It’s been said that he appears to be ahead of schedule to this point, but Tennessee will remain cautious.
As Austin Price pointed out on the GQ Saturday morning, Heard is easing himself back into the fold following a minor ‘clean up’ procedure this summer. He will be fine for the season, but won’t be going all-out, full-speed on every drill to begin camp. That’s OK. He was seen doing more on Saturday morning than he was in the previous two practices. Heard was taking part in most of the individual periods and when the offensive line came together at the end for group work (while the media was walking off the field), Heard was the first left tackle up.
Freshman wide receiver Mike Matthews continues to be limited, but it’s nothing serious and is expected back in then fold here soon.
The Offense – Practice No. 3
The offensive line split into two groups for work with tackles & guards and guards and tackles. Each group also took part in hitting the blocking sled and walking through blocking techniques with Glen Elarbee. Again, when the position came together for group board work (while the media was leaving), Lance Heard took his spot at left tackle with the rest of the ‘first’ group. Andrej Karic was also the first left guard up. Take that for what it is worth on day three. The offensive line was also stepping through their pass drops before ramping up the intensity.
As the media was leaving the field, running backs, tight ends and linebackers linked up for pass-rushing/pass protection period. We weren’t able to see a rep, but that’s obviously something this running back group needs to take seriously as there’s a lot of young guys in the room that don’t have much experience in protection. A guy like Peyton Lewis has likely never been taught how to pass protect, so it’s crucial for him if he’s going to be a guy the Vols can count on early.
The tight ends were hitting the blocking sled for much of the individual period. From the eye test, that group looks good. Miles Kitselman is a big dude. So is Holden Staes and we know about the progress Ethan Davis has been making with the strength and conditioning, as well as nutritional, programs. Though none of he three have much experience in this offense, Tennessee may have more ‘depth’ at the spot than it’s ever had under this regime. All three of those guys will play.
And finally, routes on air. It was not the best looking portion we’ve seen so far in camp. The drill, that was throwing into the endzone from the 10-yard line this morning, started off strong before becoming sloppy in a hurry. On one specific sequence, there were four-straight drops on balls thrown by Nico Iamaleava. The drops came from Bru McCoy, Squirrel White, Kaleb Webb and Dont’e Thornton. Not all of the throws were great, but all four should have been caught. Coaches were….not pleased, to say the least.
Outside of that brutal stretch, there were a few more drops but it was much more productive. McCoy made a nice catch in the back of the end zone, tip toeing to stay in bounds.
The Defense – Practice No. 3
It was a typical defensive practice for the Vols as tackling and turnover circuits kicked off the day. Coach ‘Chop’ was pretty animated a couple of times as James Pearce, Kalib Perry and Emmanuel Okoye didn’t scoop the football properly during a turnover drill. He was telling them to get their hands under the football to scoop it, rather than trying to pick it up one-handed on the run.
The linebackers were hitting the tackling sled for some of individual. William Inge was preaching to keep their feet moving while on contact. Arion Carter, as usual, was jumping around and trying to set the tempo for the group. Run recognition followed the drill before they began collisioning the No. 2 receiver out in space.
Josh Heupel spent some time observing the safeties this morning. He then made his way over to the cornerbacks, who were drilling sideline tackling. There’s obviously plenty of competition and plenty of intrigued with that group over the next few weeks. Tim Banks was also getting after the safeties at one point in time, telling his group to pick it up as they were walking around too much.
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