ForumsTennessee head coach Derek Dooley relayed the news Sunday that sophomore defensive tackle Marlon Walls will miss considerable time with an Achilles’ tendon injury.
Walls was sidelined Saturday by the same injury that struck senior defensive end Ben Martin on Thursday.
“Our Achilles heel so far has been our Achilles heel,” Dooley said. “Marlon, it looks like he’s going to be out for awhile with the same injury as Ben. So that’s too bad.
“They weren’t doing anything, basically. It was a non-contact injury. It happens.”
Walls missed most of fall camp last year but still managed to appear in seven games. The Olive Branch, Miss., native entered fall camp bracketed as a starter on the defensive front along with Alcoa’s Rae Sykes.
Dooley announced one personnel move, the return of Victor Thomas to defense. Thomas was shifted to the offensive line in spring and received considerable playing time at center. But Cody Pope ended the spring ahead of Thomas on the depth chart and the Vols added signee Darin Gooch from the junior college ranks to shore up that position.
Now, it’s the defensive front that is feeling the pinch.
“I don’t have a sense for what any of the d-tackles can do other than Montori (Hughes), right now,” Dooley said. “Montori’s a really good player. He plays with great reckless abandon out there, he’s got tremendous competitive fire — we need to get more guys like him.”
Hughes played in all 13 games last season, finishing with 20 tackles including a pair for lost yardage. Suddenly, the Murfreesboro sophomore has the task of bringing a whole crop of young defensive linemen up to speed.
“That’s the thing about football — you can’t sulk too long,” Dooley said. “Injuries are a part of it and you adjust and move on. It doesn’t mean you don’t hurt for the guys who are injured, but they’ll be fine. It’s opportunity. One man’s loss is another man’s opportunity.”
Sunday’s workout was the first in pads for Tennessee, and the Vols used it to install their short-yardage and goal line systems. Dooley said that always makes for a fun and physical practice.
“It was our first time to really get after it live, and the defense did a great job today in practice.”
UT practices again Monday afternoon before holding its first camp scrimmage on Tuesday.
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