The Tennessee football program is in a weird place right now. The administration seems to be favoring a bunker mentality, for the most part, while the program is very likely in the final days of the Butch Jones era with the losses continuing to mount on the field.

The latest drama involves speculation that Butch Jones knowingly played offensive lineman Brett Kendrick against Kentucky after he suffering a concussion earlier in the game. Sources close to Kendrick indicate Jones knowingly played Kendrick due to Tennessee’s lack of options on the offensive line against the Wildcats.

Trey Wallace of The Read Optional wrote about the incident Tuesday night.

An issue with that report is that football coaches don’t have final authorization when it comes to injuries. Training staffs and medical personnel have the final say on if a player can go back in, and when it comes to head injuries/concussions, independent examiners — which are at each and every SEC game — must clear players before going back into a game.

Following the report, Tennessee AD John Currie has released the following statement, although he does not mention Kendrick specifically in his statement:

Based on Currie’s statement, and as noted above, Jones would not have the authorization to put Kendrick back in the game if he was diagnosed with a concussion during the contest. That’s not to say Kendrick did not suffer a concussion, but that if he did, the protocols were in place to prevent him from going back on the field in that event. Whether all the protocols failed, in this case, is another story.

If you had your hopes up that this story would get Jones fired, it doesn’t appear that’s going to be the case.