Tennessee completed its 19th of 25 scheduled preseason practices on Monday.
Aug. 22, 2016
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — With just 10 days remaining until Tennessee kicks off the 2016 football season, the Volunteers began preparations for Appalachian State on Monday afternoon with a two-hour practice session in full pads on Haslam Field.
Prior to practice Derek Barnett, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Josh Malone, and Brett Kendrick fielded questions from the local media at the Ray & Lucy Hand Digital Studio.
Derek Barnett | Junior | Defensive End | Nashville, Tenn.
Embracing his leadership role on the team, junior defensive end Derek Barnett has taken Darrell Taylor under his wing. A redshirt freshman out of Waverly, Virginia, Taylor arrived on Rocky Top as a four-star defensive lineman prior to the 2015 season. Adding size and strength during his redshirt year, Taylor is looking to take the next step towards earning some playing time for Team 120 and continuing his trajectory as a future pass-rushing option for the Vols. Barnett, now an upperclassman and team leader along the O-line, says he’s doing all he can to push Taylor’s development.
“I just tell him to keep on working. I try to tell him some of the tricks I picked up on pass rush. He wants to get better. He wants to learn. When you tell him something, he tries to play it. He’s naturally gifted.”
Jalen Reeves-Maybin | Senior | Linebacker | Clarksville, Tenn.
Senior linebacker and defensive captain Jalen Reeves-Maybin noted the confidence he feels in the experience of Tennessee’s front seven. With returning letterwinners and starters looking to man almost every spot up front — including linemen Derek Barnett, Corey Vereen, LaTroy Lewis and Danny O’Brien, not to mention returning linebackers Darrin Kirkland Jr.and Kenny Bynum — Reeves-Maybin believes the cohesion of the front seven can only help the Tennessee defense over the course of the season.
“I think we just have a lot of confidence in each other. We can talk to each other, we can get on each other and a lot of us have been here so long that we don’t feel attacked by it or take it personal or anything. We all know we have a job to do. We’ve been friends for two or three years here and I think that’s something that will help us — just being able to communicate with each other and hold each other to a high standard.”
Josh Malone | Junior | Wide Receiver | Gallatin, Tenn.
During fall camp, the biggest question surrounding Team 120 was whether or not the Vols could improve their passing attack from last year. With all eyes on the receivers, the group has responded well. Junior Josh Malone has emerged as one of the leaders of the group says the competition at receiver has helped him improve heading into the season.
“Personally, I feel like I’m the best wide receiver on the team, and I am pretty sure that if you ask other people, they would feel like they are the best. That is what fuels competition and fuels us in practice to keep competing with each other, and it pushes us to get better.”
Brett Kendrick | RS Junior | Offensive Lineman | Knoxville, Tenn.
Brett Kendrick, who joined several of his O-line compatriots on SportsCenterSaturday morning, spoke to the media about his versatility and the progression he has seen in some of his younger teammates. Earning some recognition for their @OLPShadows Twitter handle, which chronicles quarterback Joshua Dobbs’ local fame from the perspective of the less-noticed offensive line, Kendrick admitted that any notoriety he and teammates Jack Jones, Thomas Edwards, and Dylan Wiesman may have won during their SportsCenter cameo has already dissipated.
“The fame has already died down a lot. We went out last night and everyone wants to take pictures with Dobbs still so apparently SportsCenter was not enough for me.”
Sound Bites
Defensive end Derek Barnett
(On early preparations for Appalachian State)
“App State is a good team and we’re not looking past them. I know a lot of people are talking about Bristol, but we’re focused on App State right now. We’ve got a lot of expectations. If we do what we’re supposed to do on the field, offensively and defensively, we’ll be a very, very good team.”
Linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin
(On his tendency to bounce around at practice, observing other position groups)
“I’m just always trying to learn, trying to be like a sponge. I just really love the game of football, not just playing linebacker. I just try to pick up little things from each position group and see what the coaches are teaching, maybe try to transfer it into my game somehow. I’m just trying to get a better understanding of football.”
Wide receiver Josh Malone
(On Appalachian State’s football success)
“For my personal opinion, you respect every team that you step on the field with because anything can happen on any given day. Appalachian State is one of those teams that has a tradition of winning, so in my eyes, they are just as good as any team in the nation.”
Offensive lineman Brett Kendrick
(On his preseason work along the offensive line)
“I am doing a lot of cross-training on the offensive line and I have played right, left and center, so I have been working in multiple spots. I tend to feel most comfortable in either tackle, but I have gotten a lot more comfortable with left tackle during camp. I have taken a lot of reps at right and left.”