The Thursday night SEC availability report is officially out and a pair of Tennessee defensive linemen’s status remains uncertain for Saturday’s matchup against Georgia. Both defensive tackle Jaxson Moi and strong-side defensive end Tyree Weathersby are questionable for the rivalry showdown.
Both Moi and Weathersby were questionable on the initial Wednesday night report and there was no change Thursday. If last season’s injuries were any indication, we’ll likely figure out the final verdict on Moi and Weathersby’s status on Friday night.
Moi suffered an injury three plays into the Syracuse game and did not play a week ago against ETSU. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel has expressed optimism multiple times this week that the duo could return against Georgia.
“Yeah, we anticipate most of those guys will be ready to go,” Heupel said on the Mike Keith Show Thursday. “We get to kick off and whoever is in the ball game has got to do a great job of winning their one-on-ones. And when you’re getting doubled, holding the point, not allowing them to scrape off and get off on their second level fitters or linebackers or safety for a single high too. But nobody different than what you’ve already seen. Anticipate those guys being ready to go.”
Moi 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.
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The 6-foot-2, 305-pound lineman 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. Moi began the season as a starting defensive tackle beside Bryson Eason.
The California native’s status is all the more important because Tennessee defensive tackle Daevin Hobbs suffered an injury in fall camp and is out for Saturday’s showdown against Georgia.
Weathersby is a redshirt sophomore defensive end who played sparingly a season ago after an injury cost him the entirety of his freshman season. He was Tennessee’s backup strongside defensive end against Syracuse where he played a career-high 45 snaps and earned a strong PFF grade.
While Weathersby did not suffer an obvious injury against Syracuse, he did not play a week ago against ETSU. The Georgia native’s status is all the more important because Tennessee slid strongside defensive end Dominic Bailey over to defensive tackle in spurts early this season.
If Weathersby is healthy enough to go against Georgia, that gives Tennessee more flexibility with how they use Bailey.
Kickoff between Tennessee and Georgia is at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe are on the call for ABC.
