Tennessee football was back outside at Haslam Practice Field Friday morning for practice three of fall camp after rain forced them inside Thursday.
The media got to watch just three period of practice, roughly 20 minutes, so as always there is only so many takeaways to gather.
Here’s our notes and observations from practice No. 3 after the Vols put shoulder pads and helmets on.
Offense
After not going through routes on air Thursday, Squirrel White was back as a full participant in the portion of practice open to the media.
The only injury/absence was freshman Ethan Davis. He was there fully dressed out to start practice but ended up running into the bowls of the Anderson Training Center and did not return for the remaining periods open to the media. I didn’t see what happened and he was running off the field looking fine so I doubt it’s an injury— at least one of significant nature— but he was not going through routes on air with his teammates.
It was red zone routes on air day for Tennessee’s offense which means no video from it. It wasn’t a super crisp day either. The first four throws through for Milton included an inaccurate pass to Jacob Warren and Ramel Keyton running his route too deep and catching the ball out of the back of the end zone.
Milton and the Vols’ starters bounced back the second time through with four completions though Keyton received instruction after a slightly sloppy route. Keyton, Dont’e Thornton, Warren and Bru McCoy represented the first group. Kaleb Webb, White, McCallen Castles and Chas Nimrod represented the second group.
I didn’t see the Vols starting offensive line going through drills but I did catch the second and third groups. The second group included (left to right): Gerald Mincey, Andrej Karic, Parker Ball, Addison Nichols, Dayne Davis. That makes me think the first group was: John Campbell Jr., Ollie Lane, Cooper Mays, Javontez Spraggins, Jeremiah Crawford.
Tennessee’s running backs were fully accounted for and going through resistance drills and cut reads. While freshman Khalifa Keith is massive, he doesn’t have the quick feet and elusiveness of the rest of Tennessee’s running backs— at least at this point.
I’ll probably echo this thought throughout fall camp but I’m tremendously excited to see that group this season. The high end talent and depth is there. I’d wager it’s the Vols’ best running back room since Jalen Hurd, Alvin Kamara and John Kelly were toting the rock in the Butch Jones’ tenure.
More From RTI: Freshman Tight End Offers High Praise For Joe Milton III
Defense
Through three days, the only Tennessee players in red jerseys are quarterbacks which is an encouraging sign. We’ll see how long that lasts once the Vols put full pads on contact starts increasing.
Rodney Garner has been relatively mild mannered the first few days of camp which a surprise for him. Not to say there’s no instruction going on but I haven’t witnessed a good ole fashioned Garner chewing out yet. I’m sure there have been some when the media wasn’t watching and I’m sure they’ll increase when the full pads go on.
But as of now, Garner seems happy with where his group is at. We noted yesterday how Tyre West and Daevin Hobbs are both working with strong side defensive ends right now and you can add freshman Tyree Weathersby to that list.
It leaves the defensive tackle spot relatively thin right now. Kurrott Garland, Omari Thomas, Elijah Simmons, Bryson Eason and Omarr-Norman Lott are at least somewhat reliable guys in that spot. But after them, Tennessee is relying on the likes of Nathan Robinson, Trevor Duncan and Isaac Green.
Linebackers were working on gap assignments as they often do during the open portion of practice. Not much new to report there that we haven’t discussed the first two days of camp. For a group with a lot of young players (three freshmen and two sophomores) coach Brian Jean-Mary doesn’t have to give too much extra instruction.
In the secondary there’s a lot of instruction from both Willie Martinez, Tim Banks and even a number of Tennessee players. That group is deep with a ton of competition but the older players have been discussing details with one another and younger players often.
Banks did pull Doneiko Slaughter off to the side at one point to provide further instruction as the two hammered out some footwork details. The corners emphasized work on press coverage today so footwork was of the utmost importance.
Defensive backs coach Willie Martinez was working with the safeties Friday while defensive coordinator Tim Banks was with the corners. There’s nothing crazy about that but it is typically switched with Banks taking the lead on safeties and Martinez on corners.
