No.11 Tennessee (3-0,0-0) opens conference play on Saturday at 3:30 pm ET on Saturday inside of Neyland Stadium against the No.20 Florida Gators.
The Vols routed Akron on Saturday night, but it came with at least a couple of injuries, including star receiver Cedric Tillman and starting running back Jabari Small. Small left the contest after just one carry, and he never returned, while Tillman's injury stemmed from a low hit on a catch at the first down mark during the second quarter. He seemed positive after exiting the medical tent, even stating, "I am good," but he also never returned to the game, which given the situation, there was really no need for Tennessee to thrust him back into the action.
“Don’t know yet, at this point, but we’re hopeful,” Heupel said on Tillman late Saturday night. “Jabari (Small), same thing. We held them from that point on in the football game, just because of the scoreboard and to get those guys some treatment. Dee and Warren (Burrell), we were optimistic, but didn’t feel like we could play them. Let me take that back. Didn’t feel like it was the right thing to do to play them in this one. So we’re optimistic and hopeful for the next one.”
On Monday, Heupel met with the media but did not have an update at the time, stating they would assess more as they got back on the grass more later in the week.
However, on Tuesday, running backs Coach Jerry Mack met with the media and provided an update on the running back room.
“He was able to do everything,” Mack told reporters. “He finished the the entire practice. He did every part of practice. We didn’t have to limit him from a health standpoint, it was more if us being smart with the workload, and that’s no different than what we normally do over the course of the week. We’e always monitoring those guys workload with our GPS system we have on those guys to make sure that we’re not overworking them so he can be prepared.”
Small was not the only Tennessee running back to leave Saturday night’s contest, as Dylan Sampson left with what appeared to be a tweaked ankle.
Mack noted that “everyone” in the room was available today, and another note was that Princeton Fant worked with the Vols running back, splitting reps for an as needed situation. Fant has worked at running back before.
Sampson scored two touchdowns on Saturday night, and he has continued to be a nice spark for the Tennessee offense when called upon.
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