Tennessee defensive tackle Jaxson Moi remains on the SEC Availability report Thursday night ahead of the Vols matchup against Mississippi State Saturday afternoon in Starkville. Moi remains “probable” on the injury report as his return to the field looks likely.
Moi suffered an injury on just the third play of Tennessee football’s season-opening win over Syracuse. He missed the ETSU game due to injury and pushed to try and return against Georgia. Tennessee listed Moi as questionable to begin Georgia week before downgrading him to doubtful Friday and then to officially out on Saturday.
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel stated that Moi’s status was improving when he met with the media on Monday and then On3’s Chris Low and Pete Nakos reported Wednesday that Moi would play against the Bulldogs unless he suffered a setback later this week.
Moi posted a positive message on his Instagram story Tuesday night which indicated he could return to the field against Mississippi State.
“God, thank you is truly all I can say,” Moi wrote. “Let’s ride!”
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The 6-foot-2, 305-pound lineman played 246 snaps at defensive tackle for Tennessee a season ago after transferring in from Stanford following his sophomore season. Moi totaled eight tackles and two sacks a season ago as a rotational defensive tackle.
Moi is stepping into a bigger role this season after Tennessee lost top defensive tackles Omarr Norman-Lott, Omari Thomas and Elijah Simmons from last season’s team. Hbegan the season as a starting defensive tackle beside Bryson Eason.
The California native’s injury has been all the more significant because Tennessee defensive tackle Daevin Hobbs suffered an injury in fall camp and has yet to return to the field this season. Hobbs is out against Mississippi State this week but could return against Arkansas following the open date.
Tennessee is a touchdown favorites against Mississippi State as of Wednesday afternoon. The Vols are looking for their first SEC win after falling to Georgia in their conference opener two weeks prior. Mississippi State is off to a 4-0 start with a quartet of non conference wins.
Kickoff between Tennessee and Mississippi State is at 4:15 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon. Dave Neal, Fozzy Whittaker and Morgan Uber are on the call for the SEC Network.
