Tennessee coach Butch Jones liked what he saw from both of the quarterbacks competing for the starting job in the team’s first practice of fall camp, even though the pads aren’t on yet.

“I liked what the quarterbacks did,” Jones told reporters after practice. “Their progressions, you could tell they were quicker. Their decision-making process was much better, but again we don’t have the pads on. You get a live rush coming at you and things change.”

Quinten Dormady, who is battling Jarrett Guarantano for the starting job against Georgia Tech, pointed to a change in Jones’ policy – allowing 7-on-7 drills in offseason workouts – as part of the reason for the improvement.

“I think that was a good fundamental base, to translating that out here,” Dormady said. “We got some good work in with the receivers. For us to be able to do that, I thought, was a good building block.”

The junior quarterback thinks the extra reps helped both quarterbacks feel more comfortable in the first practice since spring.

“Coach Jones talks about getting reps and that’s how you build, is by getting reps,” Dormady said. “The more reps we got this summer, the more it was going to help us out here today. I think that did translate.”

The Vols will hold their second practice on Sunday and then take Monday off.