According to a report, Tennessee redshirt senior wide receiver Jauan Jennings has suffered another setback in his return to full health for the Vols.
Per Trey Wallace of The Read Optional and Fox Sports Knoxville, Jennings suffered a knee injury during a summer workout. According to Wallace, Jennings has already had an evaluation and will have surgery. The good news for Jennings is that he’s expected back for fall camp in August.
Multiple people close to situation tell me Tennessee WR, Jauan Jennings suffered a knee injury in a workout.
He’s already had evaluation to determine the extent. He will have surgery & is expected to make a recovery by Fall camp. More to come pic.twitter.com/YMf2edLK5h
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) June 20, 2019
This reported injury is just the latest in a line of obstacles that have befallen Jennings over the last couple years.
When Jennings joined the Vols as part of their 2015 recruiting class, he was a quarterback out of middle Tennessee. He practiced at QB in his first spring with the team as an early enrollee, but he transitioned to receiver that fall and was used sparingly on offense as he learned the position better.
Jennings flashed a ton of potential as a sophomore in 2016, reeling in a Hail Mary touchdown to beat Georgia and making a big touchdown grab against Florida the week before. He finished second on the team in receptions and receiving yards that season, totaling 40 catches for 580 yards and seven touchdowns.
Hopes were high for Jennings in 2017, but then he injured his wrist just before halftime of the Vols’ season-opening game against Georgia Tech, and it cost him his entire season. He wanted to come back when the Vols were taking on Vanderbilt in their season finale, but that didn’t happen. Jennings ended up posting a video to his Instagram account that included a profanity-laced tirade bashing UT’s coaches at the time.
Interim head coach Brady Hoke and then-AD John Currie made a joint decision to dismiss Jennings from the team just days before Tennessee took on Vanderbilt.
Once Phillip Fulmer took over as AD and hired Jeremy Pruitt as head coach, Jennings began pleading his case to both men to be let back on the team. After fulfilling a long list of requirements Pruitt laid out to him, Jennings was welcomed back. But due to offseason surgery, he didn’t participate in spring practices and ended up being limited during fall camp too.
Jennings showed some of his old play-making ability at times in 2018, but his nagging injuries kept him from performing to his full potential. He caught six passes for 102 yards against Alabama and also hauled in five receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown in Tennessee’s win against Auburn on the road. But he also had three games in which he totaled just one catch, and he had three others where he made just two receptions. He sat out Tennessee’s game against Charlotte to rest up before the final stretch of SEC play.
The 6-foot-3, 221-pound receiver finished this past season with 30 catches for 438 yards and three touchdowns. In his 35 career games, Jennings has made 87 catches for 1,184 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The Vols have an experienced receiving corps heading into the 2019 season, and Jennings is the most veteran of the group. Tennessee has three other seniors behind Jennings in Marquez Callaway, Brandon Johnson, and Tyler Byrd. The Vols also have juniors Josh Palmer and Jordan Murphy. Senior tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson is another veteran pass catcher on UT’s roster.
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Here we go again…