Just three weeks ago, Jacques Smith stood confidently on a podium at SEC Media Days eager for the season to start.

But after practicing just once in full pads, the senior defensive end is in jeopardy of missing the beginning of the 2013 season.

Butch Jones announced after Wednesday’s practice that Smith underwent surgery for a broken thumb that he sustained in Tuesday’s practice. A UT release termed the injury as a broken hand.

“We’ll see how the body heals,” Jones said, “but the timetable is about four to six weeks and we’ll see how he progresses.”

Jones said Smith is in good spirits following his operation.

“That’s football,” Jones said. “It gives another person another opportunity to develop.”

At least for the moment, that person won’t be Corey Vereen. The freshman defensive end, who wreaked havoc on the offense during UT’s spring game, is also out with an injured knee. He underwent an MRI and Jones expected to know more about his status by Thursday.

“It lends itself to more players getting an opportunity,” Jones said of the injury situation at the defensive end position.

“We have some veterans at that position and the standard will never change.”

Quarterback caution

Redshirt freshman quarterback Nathan Peterman didn’t throw at Wednesday’s practice. Instead, he took simulated reps alongside the other three quarterbacks in which he performed the throwing motion without a football.

“That’s a precautionary measure that we take with our quarterbacks,” Jones said. “They’ve had an abundance of throwing. So we pick our spots to rest their arms.”

Though no starter has been named, true freshmen Riley Ferguson and and Joshua Dobbs continue to take a comparable number of reps as Peterman and Justin Worley, who were listed as co-starters on the fall camp depth chart.

“Very, very encouraged by our two freshman quarterbacks,” Jones said. “They continue to progress.”

Burning their stripes

UT’s freshmen are easily identifiable at practice and it’s not for performance related reasons.

Rather, each freshman started fall camp with a black stripe on on their helmet, a mark they’re responsible for shedding through their positive performance.

It’s up to the “big brother” of each player to decide when the stripe gets exchanged for a typical orange one.

Jones tweeted a photo Thursday morning from a team meeting and stated that defensive back Cameron Sutton is the first to shed his stripe.

Though it was up to Sutton’s big brother Brian Randolph to decide on removing the stripe, Jones had praise for Sutton and fellow freshman Malik Foreman after Wednesday’s practice.

“They’re gaining a lot of confidence as we continue to progress throughout training camp,” Jones said.

Marlin mingles with media

Junior running back Marlin Lane spoke about more than just the competition in the backfield during his first time with the media since returning from a suspension in the spring.

“It was difficult because the whole team became a family, and being separate from them is like being alone,” he said. “I just learned to appreciate what I’ve got.”

Roster Moves

An unknown Vol sporting No. 89 on his nameless practice jersey was on the field this week. The new addition is Greg

Tisho, a 6-foot-2, 232-pound freshman tight end. Freshman offensive lineman Brett Dockery of Farragut and senior defensive back Naz Oliver have left the program.