Tennessee began its preparations for Georgia State on Friday, staying indoors for the second consecutive practice with inclement weather in the area.
Here are some quick observations from two open periods…
A day after Jeremy Banks was seen working at inside linebacker, the sophomore from Memphis was not even present for practice Friday. During the open periods, Banks was seen in street clothes and a backpack walking into the facility. Also absent was senior Daniel Bituli, who continues to be hampered by a knee injury. Jeremy Pruitt didn’t sound too concerned earlier in the week but will update the latest on Bituli’s status later tonight.
Also notably, Aubrey Solomon was not present at practice Friday. The Michigan transfer continues to wait word from the NCAA and has sported a big brace on his right leg the last week or so.
Tennessee's trio of defensive lineman — Latrell Bumphus, Darel Middleton and John Mincey — working with the outside linebackers recently all returned to defensive line drills during the indy periods. In terms of Chris Rumph’s unit, Kivon Bennett looks like he’s continued to have a strong camp, albeit quietly. He received some praise from Rumph during a pass rush drill today and was running first ahead of Darell Taylor and Deandre Johnson. Lastly, Roman Harrison was a participant at practice but still looks slowed by an undisclosed injury.
Redshirt freshman wideout Cedric Tillman had a tough start to practice, getting an earful from Tee Martin during an explosion-footwork drill and then dropping two passes in routes on air. The two backup quarterbacks were a bit wild Friday, with both Brian Maurer (who went second most times) and JT Shrout misfiring multiple times.
Offensive CEO Jim Chaney opened practice with the tailbacks but quickly shifted his attention back to the offensive line for most of the open periods. The Vols’ offensive line once again broke up into two groups, guards and tackles. Later, the tight ends joined the group and worked on combo-drills with the tackles. On the OL, I didn't see Jahmir Johnson take a single rep today. Wanya Morris and Marcus Tatum were the first two tackles.
Several guys transitioned to scout team jerseys today, including Solon Page at MLB and a couple freshman DBs.