Tennessee’s offensive line struggles have been well documented.
But for the Volunteer unit that has allowed 30 sacks in seven games – tied for second-most in the NCAA – things went from bad to worse when two starters left Saturday’s contest against Ole Miss with injuries.
The losses of left guard Marcus Jackson and right tackle Coleman Thomas however, don’t seem like they will have a long-term effect on the Vols offense, as head coach Butch Jones announced during his Monday press conference that he expects both players to play come Saturday against Alabama.
Jones also stated that he expected Jackson to be back at practice on Monday, but was still waiting to hear whether or not Thomas would be held out or not.
If the freshman from Max Meadows, Virginia is unable to go though, the Vols will turn towards a combination of redshirt freshman Brett Kendrick and redshirt senior Jacob Gilliam, who both played in place of Thomas in Oxford.
“I thought Brett Kendrick did some very positive things in moving forward,” Jones said. “I like a lot of the little things he did. Jacob, he’s a warrior. Again, here’s a fifth year player, a walk-on who gained a scholarship playing in a game against the number three ranked opponent in the country, with no ACL. His big thing is just the stamina on getting back his quickness. He’s not there yet, but he’ll get there.”
And while Jackson seems the more favorable of the two to compete against the Crimson Tide inside Neyland Stadium, Jones did mention that he will be keeping a close eye on redshirt freshman Austin Sanders – who replaced Jackson after his injury – and sophomore Dylan Weisman on the off chance they are needed up front.
“There will be great competition there,” Jones said. “(I want to see) consistency in performance, knowledge of the offense – we talk about controlling the controllables and part of that is your mental preparation. You can have no mental errors.
“Our margin of error is very small so it starts with us completely understanding our responsibility in every single play, the fundamentals, the fine details of winning that play. So, all of that will go into that.”
As for when the Vols will know officially whether each player will be able to suit up, Jones said that if they haven’t been able to practice by Wednesday, they most likely won’t play due to them not being “game ready.”
“On the offensive line, you need repetitions throughout the course of the week during practice because of the different looks that defenses give you, particularly Alabama,” Jones said. “They do a great job of disguising the moving of their fronts and the speed of the game.
“Every time we’ve played an individual who hasn’t practiced all week, he didn’t particularly have a good performance. You play the way you practice and that’s why practice is extremely critical moving forward.”
Smith circles back: After being absent for the Vols last four contests, sophomore wide receiver Josh Smith seems to be making strides toward returning to the field.
On Monday, Jones said that the Knoxville native would begin running again in practice this week, but was a “longshot” to return in time for the Alabama game.
“We’ve missed Josh immensely,” Jones said. “Josh Smith means so much to our football program and our football team, not just on the field but off the field. He’s a leader and he’s still leading that way but I know it’s really bothering him not being on the field.
“He’s done his due diligence in the training room but he’s a playmaker for us and anytime you take a playmaker off the field, that hurts you. It also hurts your overall depth or it hurts your overall competition that we just spoke about. He’s a talented young man and we look forward to getting him back soon.”
Despite missing what will be five contests, the thought of applying for a medical redshirt for Smith has not even “crossed the mind” of Jones.
“He’ll play,” the second-year head coach said. “If we go a few more weeks, which I don’t expect, maybe we’ll visit that but right now, we’re here to win football games.”
