It’s been three weeks and three days since Jacob Gilliam went down with a torn ACL and was lost for the season.
At least, so everyone thought.
The redshirt senior offensive lineman has yet to undergo surgery to repair the torn ligament. However, he was seen jogging around Haslam Field during Tuesday’s practice as he works toward a possible return this season.
“Jacob is an individual that is extremely competitive,” Tennessee head coach Butch Jones said. “This football team means everything to him. He still has a dream in the back of his mind of still playing and we’ll see how he progresses.”
The effort to return to the Vols in 2014 seems reasonable for the Knoxville native. He has already been redshirted once in his career, making him an unlikely candidate to return next year via a medial redshirt.
Gillaim started at left tackle in UT’s season opener against the Utah State Aggies. He has since been replaced by redshirt freshman Brett Kendrick and redshirt junior Kyler Kerbyson, who shifted to left tackle against Oklahoma leaving a spot for freshman Coleman Thomas to start at right tackle.
Georgia bound: When freshman Derrell Scott and redshirt junior Trevarris Saulsberry returned to practice after fully recovering from injuries last week, their status for the Georgia game was unknown.
On Tuesday, however, Jones updated their status, saying the two returning players have made significant progress in the past week.
“Derrell Scott had a very, very good day of practice,” Jones said. “We gave him a great volume of repetitions. His work capacity has continued to grow. He brings another element and another point of depth at the running back position, so he will make the trip and he will be ready to go.
“Right now, if we were to make the trip right now to Athens, Saulsberry would be on the trip as well. So they continue to improve.”
After injuring his left foot prior to the season, Scott has been held out of all three of Tennessee’s games this season.
Saulsberry has yet to step foot on the field either for the Vols, as he injured his left knee during UT’s open practice on Aug. 16.
Learning from the best: Saturday may be Jalen Hurd’s first SEC game, but that hasn’t stopped the freshman running back from seeing the best tailbacks of the SEC each and every week.
“We have little clips around of all the SEC running backs every single week and we watch all their good runs,” Hurd said. “We try and pick bits and pieces of every running back and look at what they’re doing to try and see what we’re not doing.”
But there’s one running back whose performance has stood out throughout the season: Georgia’s Todd Gurley, who will line up opposite Tennessee’s defense on Saturday.
Throughout the Vols preparation for the All-American running back, Hurd has gained an admiration for Gurley’s play style.
“Gurley is a hard runner and he runs hard every play,” Hurd said. “That’s something I respect about him. I’ve watched him since my junior year of high school, so he’s a guy I look up to, but I’m just trying to focus on the things I need to work on.”
