Tennessee football was back at the Haslam Practice Field on Wednesday morning for its 13th and final spring practice before the Vols’ returned to Neyland Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the Orange-and-White game. The Vols worked in shells on Wednesday morning, wearing helmets and shoulder pads.
Three periods of practice were open to the media meaning we watched roughly 20 minutes of practice with some of that coming during a stretching period. With a limited portion of practice open there are only so many observations to glean. With that, it’s on to the observations.
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Offense
Let’s start with injuries and absences. Receiver Amari Jefferson and tight end Cole Harrison remained in yellow jerseys but were full go during the portions of practice open to the media. Freshman running back Daune Morris worked off to the side and freshman tight end DaSaahn Brame was wearing a red non contact jersey.
Sophomore slot receiver Braylon Staley was full go during portions of practice open to the media after not participating in Monday’s scrimmage.
Tennessee’s quarterbacks and running backs worked on some red zone routes, particularly Texas routes. That was a pretty crisp portion of practice with only a few passes hitting the ground. After working on routes, Tennessee’s running backs did some pass protection work.
The Vols’ quarterbacks, receivers and tight ends then did their routes on air portion of practice in the red zone. Nico Iamaleava was accurate throwing the football but his pass catchers didn’t help him out on a few reps. Tight end Ethan Davis had a bad drop on a fade route while Braylon Staley was unable to get to a fade that landed on the back pylon.
Chris Brazzell had one really nice catch on a throw behind him on an in route though it was one that probably doesn’t get completed in a game. Tennessee was working on some double move in routes that was executed pretty well. Backup quarterback Jake Merklinger had a nice day throwing the football and was sharp throughout the session.
Defense
The injuries and absences section is much longer on the defensive side of the ball though that has been the case throughout spring.
Caleb Herring was on the practice field but was only wearing sweats and didn’t participate in any part of practice. Linebacker Arion Carter, Jadon Perlotte and Jaedon Harmon, defensive linemen Emmanuel Okoye, Daevin Hobbs, Mariyon Dye, Jamal Wallace and Jayden Loftin as well as defensive backs Marcus Goree, Jermod McCoy and Jourdan Thomas were all not dressed fully dressed out and participating at different levels.
Tennessee’s defensive linemen did its usual two drills with four players exploding off the line of scrimmage and then them running around the edge and knocking the ball away from a dummy quarterback. The Vols have added a new element to the later drill, having the linemen swipe away a pad from a coach right when they got off the line.
Loftin, Hobbs, and Dye all participated in that drill despite not being full dressed out. Outside linebacker coach Levorn “Chop” Harbin provided some extra instructions for Dye between reps.
I didn’t have a chance to watch the linebackers and defensive backs closely but from a far it looked like the defensive backs were doing some special teams fundamentals work.
