Following Tennessee’s most recent practice of training camp, Jeremy Pruitt met with the local media and confirmed the rumor floating around Rocky Top on Wednesday, senior defensive lineman Emmit Gooden has indeed been injured.
The speculation in Knoxville entering Wednesday was that Gooden injuring his knee in practice, something Pruitt confirmed during his media availability.
“Unfortunately last night, Emmit suffered a knee injury and won’t be with us this year,” Pruitt said on Wednesday. “It’s unfortunate for him and for our football team but Emmit is a guy that has another year. He will continue with going to school and get ready to come back next spring and next fall.”
News of Gooden’s injury was first reported by VolQuest.com.
Considering Tennessee is replacing its entire starting defensive line this season, the loss of Gooden is a big blow to the Volunteers. Gooden was expected to anchor the team’s defensive front and would have started for the Volunteers during his second season in Pruitt’s program.
The senior appeared in all 12 games for the Vols last season, with one start. He registered 33 tackles, seven tackles for loss and had one sack in his debut season for Tennessee.
Gooden signed with Tennessee as a member of the program’s 2018 recruiting class out of Independence Community College. His final season at Indy CC, the team was featured on the third season of the Netflix docuseries “Last Chance U.”
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
