Last Friday, Tennessee LB Darrin Kirkland Jr. went down with a knee injury in practice and was expected to miss a few weeks.
Now, according to VolQuest.com, the junior linebacker will be out for the whole season after having surgery to repair his torn meniscus on Wednesday.
The reason for the change from “out a few weeks” to “out for the season” is that doctors chose to repair the meniscus instead of removing it.
On Thursday, Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said he feels terrible for Kirkland, but the Vols’ defense has to move on and find a way to compete:
“We can’t dwell on DK not being there,” Shoop said. “I feel worse for him than for anything else. Here’s a guy who has worked really hard. He came back for the bowl game and played well. He had a good offseason and put himself in position to take the next step as a player. Injuries are part of it. We have dealt with it before.”
Much like he did last year when Kirkland was injured, Colton Jumper is expected to step into a starting role for Tennessee when the 2017 season kicks off on Monday night against Georgia Tech.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
