After suffering an ACL injury in the winter, it’s been a long road to recovery for Tennessee football star cornerback Jermod McCoy. However, recently, there was some outside noise on a potential return sooner rather than later. With the Vols suffering their third loss of the year, that began to die down, though.
On Wednesday, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel was asked about McCoy’s injury status heading into an open date, then a match against New Mexico State, before playing at Florida.
“Jermod is continuing to get better in his rehab,” Heupel said. “Doing more on the football side of it. We’ll continue to see where he progresses to.”
A follow-up question was asked for Heupel to directly answer if McCoy would play this season. Heupel didn’t think it was fair for him to publicly take a stance.
“I don’t think it’s fair for me to put a timeline on it,” Heupel said. “Had a real injury that he’s been working hard to get back from. Continues to make progress. Great teammate in the way that he’s tried to get himself back.”
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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.
Tennessee has also been without its other projected starting corner going into the year. After just a handful of plays against Syracuse, Rickey Gibson III went down with an injury that he is still recovering from.
“Rickey will be out for an extended period here,” Heupel said on the Monday following his injury. “How long, I don’t have the exact timeline on. But he’ll be out for an extended time.”
Gibson entered his junior year as a second-year starter with high expectations. He was named a Preseason All-SEC Third-Team member by Athlon. As a sophomore, he produced 32 tackles, two tackles for loss, five passes defended and a forced fumble.
Without McCoy or Gibson, it’s been Colton Hood and Ty Redmond holding it down again. Hood, a Colorado transfer, has been a breakout star who’s played his way into a possible first-round selection in the upcoming NFL draft. Redmond is a true freshman who has played nearly every snap at corner since Gibson’s injury. William Wright has been the first option off the bench, but has only sparingly seen the field.
