Tennessee coach Butch Jones is not a fan of 7-on-7 drills for his players, and won’t allow quarterbacks, receivers or defenders to participate in any kind during the offseason with the intention of preventing unwanted injuries.
“It’s a fine line there,” Jones said, according to GridironNow.com. “For probably the last seven years, we’ve done no 7-on-7 drills or one-on-ones in the summer because we’ve had some players injured and we’re trying to get them to training camp.
“We focus more on individuals and the fine details and the fundamentals and rhythm and timing in the throw game.”
Jones enters a pivotal fourth season with Tennessee, which has already received plenty of attention as a potential top-10 team heading into September. The Volunteers are likely to be the favorite to win the SEC East division with a shot at their first outright conference title in nearly two decades.
So it’s easy to understand the caution.
“You learn through your experiences as a head coach and sometimes when you go through some things,” he said, “it changes your perspective.”
Tyler Waddell is a member of the Saturday Down South news team. He brings over five years of professional journalism experience and is closing in on a Bachelor's in sports management. Follow him on Twitter (@Tyler_Waddell).
