For practically the entire season, Tennessee football has been down its starting two cornerbacks, Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson III, due to injury. In the case of McCoy, it was an off-season ACL injury that has held him out for the opening stretch of his junior season.
In the replacement of both guys, Colton Hood and Ty Redmond played every snap against Georgia. This begs the question of the availability of the two stars on the edge. For McCoy, the timeline to return is still hazy. Vols head coach Josh Heupel was hesitant to say if he’d be able to make his season debut after the upcoming bye week, following a game at Mississippi State.
“I don’t know the timeline on Jermod,” Heupel said. “And I say that meaning he’s gotten started, back out on the field, how his body responds and also being ready to go play and compete are all things that he’s got to continue to prepare for. He wants to be out there. He’s been a great teammate. He’s done a really good job in his rehab, too, and so has our medical team. So it’s all about how we can get him prepared to actually go out there and play.”
The bye week is sandwiched between a pair of SEC contests. After the trip to Starkville, Tennessee returns home to host Arkansas.
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In the practices open to the media earlier this month, McCoy 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.”
When healthy, McCoy is projected to start at cornerback. 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.
