On Friday, Tennessee football cornerback Jermod McCoy returned to the practice field for the first time.
McCoy, coming off an ACL injury, was with the other cornerbacks during the short portion of practice open to the media. He went through coverage drills, but was not permitted to go through the drills with other players, and coaches were not allowed to throw balls while he was in coverage.
Later, he went on to go through a drill where he would ‘Peanut Punch’ the ball out of a coach’s arm to force a fumble.
McCoy did not have any significant brace on his injured knee, but did sport a small band just below his kneecap. There was no visible impediment in his movement while the media was able to watch.
After the Vols held their first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday, head coach Josh Heupel met with the media to give his thoughts on McCoy’s limited return to practices.
“Yeah, cool moment for Jermod. Big moment getting back on the field, doing some of the individual work,” Heupel said. “It was cool to see the way his brothers were excited for him in that moment and how big that was, too. He broke us down before practice. And he’s done an elite job throughout his rehab, and there’s still more that he’s got to continue to do, but excited to get him back out with us.”
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Tennessee will open the season against Syracuse on August 30 in Atlanta. This gives McCoy less than a month of time to gear up if he intends to be ready for the opener.
Whether McCoy is or isn’t available to start the season, Rickey Gibson III will man one of the corner positions. On the other side, it’ll likely be Colton Hood, a Colorado transfer from this spring.
When healthy, McCoy is projected to start at cornerback opposite of Gibson. In his first year with UT, McCoy managed 44 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss. He came up with four interceptions, as well, including a one-handed snag against Ryan Williams of Alabama and a circus catch in the end zone at Vanderbilt.
McCoy started his career at Oregon State after being ranked as a three-star recruit out of high school. He played his prep ball in Whitehouse, Texas, before making the move to play for the Beavers.
With Oregon State, he played in 12 games and started in five as a true freshman. He led the team with nine passes defended and came down with a pair of interceptions.
