Coming off an Appalachian State game Tennessee could have just as easily lost, UT head coach Butch Jones met with the media Monday afternoon to face questions about the season opener as well as look ahead to the Battle at Bristol against the Hokies.
One item at top of the list was the status of senior quarterback Joshua Dobbs. Injury rumors regarding Dobbs had making the rounds all weekend after the quarterback took a hard hit on the goal line in overtime against the Mountaineers.
“Whoever put that out there,” Jones said,” you had better check your source.”
On the other side of the injury front, Jones commented that the team came out of the game relatively injury-free. When asked if tight end Jason Croom would play against Virginia Tech, Jones indicated Croom would practice but would not commit to him playing in the second game of the season.
Sophomore defensive tackle Shy Tuttle is another player eagerly awaiting his first appearance of the season after missing the second half of last season due to injury. Jones indicated the plan is to play the sophomore against Virginia Tech, as well as defensive ends Kyle Phillips and Darrell Taylor – both of whom did not play to open the season.
One huge cause of concern for Tennessee upon initial viewing was the play of the team’s linemen – especially the offensive line. Butch addressed their performance, saying a lack of consistency was the biggest problem against in the opener. Jones also cited losing individual battles on the offensive line caused the entire gameplan to breakdown at times.
Another question posed to Jones was the lack of touches for junior running back Alvin Kamara. Kamara turned down an opportunity at the NFL to return to Knoxville and was told he would be featured more consistently in the offense this season.
Kamara opened the season with only nine touches – six carries and three catches. Jones claimed the gameplan called for Kamara to get 16 touches but the end result obviously did not reflect that. Jones also said sophomore the team would like to get John Kelly more involved, even if that means on special teams. Jones said in the future, his back’s carries could be dictated by the running back with the hottest hand.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
