Tennessee held preseason practice No. 3 on an unseasonably cool Tuesday evening, working in shells for the first time in camp.
Here are today’s takeaways…
First, with shoulder pads on, corner Emmanuel Mosley, tight end James Brown and linebacker Quart’e Sapp all wore green, non-contact jerseys.
The Vols opened practice with a lengthy ‘Circle of Life’ drill.
Justin Martin then said, “I want to see you go against Kevin Beard.”
Warren goes, “Man, ya’ll don’t want to see that. I’m built different.” Just a great back and forth.
As for the rest of practice, the usual fundamental drills, pat-and-go period took up the majority of the next three periods. The OL was working on run-blocking, specifically pulling center and guards. Walt Wells really gave Coleman Thomas the business during a couple reps. K’Rojhn Calbert and Marcus Tatum also drew Wells’ ire at one point. Jack Jones and Venzell Boulware rotated as the first-team left guards.
The DBs did a lot of ball-skill work, with the corners specifically concentrating on tight, press-man coverage. The RBs did a couple different ball security, footwork stuff, with John Kelly once again showing the rookies how it’s done. While Jordan has generated some early buzz in camp, in this particular setting, Ty Chandler’s impressive footwork and quickness really shined.
As for the QBs, during the center-exchange period, Quinten Dormady worked with Jashon Robertson, while Jarrett Guarantano snapped with Thomas.
After all the buzz earlier this week on social media, Dormady was out there Tuesday rocking the Peyton Manning loose sleeves. So there’s that.
During the routes on air period, I thought Dormady’s consistency and command really shined through today. His accuracy was the best among all the quarterbacks Tuesday. He definitely is the leader of that group, too. Meanwhile, Guarantano was a bit hot and cold. He still tossed some impressive strikes, but his ball placement — whether on gos, outs or seams weren't always on point.
THIS & THAT
It’s just work against air at this point but to me the QBs and receivers are looking at sharp. There just aren’t very many balls on the ground when they’re working ‘pat-and-go’ drills. I really like how Tyler Byrd looks right now, just seems sharper and crisper with his routes than a year ago.
As for the QBs, Will McBride has lost his stripe. The early enrollee has been drawing some consistent praise from the head coach and Jones backed that up by removing McBride’s stripe.
I continue to be impressed by the freshman group of wideouts. Josh Palmer is physically the most advanced by far in terms of muscle and mass and he also shows some burst and explosion. Jordn Murphy looks like a quick and slippery guy with some real ball skills.
On the running back front they all seem like they are really good as receivers out of the backfield. Jordan and Chandler both had a couple of acrobat circus catches today on deep balls while working with QBs and WRs.
Here are today’s takeaways…
First, with shoulder pads on, corner Emmanuel Mosley, tight end James Brown and linebacker Quart’e Sapp all wore green, non-contact jerseys.
The Vols opened practice with a lengthy ‘Circle of Life’ drill.
- Coleman Thomas vs. Alexis Johnson (draw)
- Trey Smith vs. Eric Crosby (Smith won easily)
- Tim Jordan vs. Solon Page (Jordan put Page on his back)
- LaTrell Bumphus vs. Will Ignont (The frosh TE had a big win)
- Theo Jackson vs. Joshua Palmer (draw)
- K’Rojhn Calbert vs. Kivon Bennett (spirited draw)
- Riley Locklear vs. Matthew Butler (Locklear win a big win, drawing a raucous reaction from the offense)
- Shaq Wiggins vs. LaTrell Williams (no winner, Butch made them go twice because neither used proper technique).
Justin Martin then said, “I want to see you go against Kevin Beard.”
Warren goes, “Man, ya’ll don’t want to see that. I’m built different.” Just a great back and forth.
As for the rest of practice, the usual fundamental drills, pat-and-go period took up the majority of the next three periods. The OL was working on run-blocking, specifically pulling center and guards. Walt Wells really gave Coleman Thomas the business during a couple reps. K’Rojhn Calbert and Marcus Tatum also drew Wells’ ire at one point. Jack Jones and Venzell Boulware rotated as the first-team left guards.
The DBs did a lot of ball-skill work, with the corners specifically concentrating on tight, press-man coverage. The RBs did a couple different ball security, footwork stuff, with John Kelly once again showing the rookies how it’s done. While Jordan has generated some early buzz in camp, in this particular setting, Ty Chandler’s impressive footwork and quickness really shined.
As for the QBs, during the center-exchange period, Quinten Dormady worked with Jashon Robertson, while Jarrett Guarantano snapped with Thomas.
After all the buzz earlier this week on social media, Dormady was out there Tuesday rocking the Peyton Manning loose sleeves. So there’s that.
During the routes on air period, I thought Dormady’s consistency and command really shined through today. His accuracy was the best among all the quarterbacks Tuesday. He definitely is the leader of that group, too. Meanwhile, Guarantano was a bit hot and cold. He still tossed some impressive strikes, but his ball placement — whether on gos, outs or seams weren't always on point.
THIS & THAT
- Shy Tuttle (knee) was out there in shoulder pads doing some light work.
- During 1-on-1s as we were exiting the field, Roberton stoned Vickers in an OL/DL drill. Jonathan Kongbo easily bested Drew Richmond on the next rep.
- Senior WR Josh Smith earned a couple atta boys from the staff today for a pair of nice routes.
- Will McBride is now No. 17 and had his black stripe removed.
It’s just work against air at this point but to me the QBs and receivers are looking at sharp. There just aren’t very many balls on the ground when they’re working ‘pat-and-go’ drills. I really like how Tyler Byrd looks right now, just seems sharper and crisper with his routes than a year ago.
As for the QBs, Will McBride has lost his stripe. The early enrollee has been drawing some consistent praise from the head coach and Jones backed that up by removing McBride’s stripe.
I continue to be impressed by the freshman group of wideouts. Josh Palmer is physically the most advanced by far in terms of muscle and mass and he also shows some burst and explosion. Jordn Murphy looks like a quick and slippery guy with some real ball skills.
On the running back front they all seem like they are really good as receivers out of the backfield. Jordan and Chandler both had a couple of acrobat circus catches today on deep balls while working with QBs and WRs.
