After making a return to practice as a limited participant midway through fall camp, it is now reported that Tennessee football star cornerback Jermod McCoy will be sidelined to start the season. This comes after he suffered an ACL injury during the winter that he is still working his way back from.
According to the report from On3’s Chris Low, McCoy will miss ‘multiple games’ but is ‘working to get back.’ In the practices open to the media earlier this month, he was with the other cornerbacks during the short portion of practice that was open. He continued to be limited in terms of the contact he received, although he donned a normal orange jersey and not a red non-contact jersey.
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, which McCoy did not participate in, 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 this Saturday in Atlanta. With McCoy unavailable 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.
