Notes from Vols’ 7th Fall Practice

Vols head coach Butch Jones instructs his players during drills Thursday afternoon. PHOTO: Nathanael Rutherford

The Tennessee Vols battled their way through their 7th practice Friday afternoon, this time fighting the muggy weather as well. The skies may have been overcast, but the remnants of an early morning rain left the air humid and caused more than a few players and coaches to pour sweat.

While today’s practice did not feature any team sessions like the previous practices this week, plenty still happened that provided onlookers with a glimpse into the team’s development.

The practice opened up with a focus on special teams, primarily with punting. This time, however, the focus was on the punters and kickers and not the returners. The drill ran through about 15-20 punts, and the coaches were looking for consistency and punt placement. Matt Darr looked consistent, and he has a firm grip on the starting punter job.

The coaches worked with quarterbacks on their read-option plays, and all the quarterbacks looked comfortable running through the drill, and no miscues occurred.

Here is what stood out from today’s practice:

• During a one-on-one individual drill with the quarterbacks, receivers, and defensive backs, Von Pearson broke free and made a great grab on a Nathan Peterman throw and scored a 35-40 yard touchdown.
• In that same drill, Josh Malone had a ball go straight through his hands on a deep route.
• Butch Jones was all over Dimarya Mixon today, calling him out for lack of discipline and for being “soft” during defensive drills.
• Jones provided the quote of the practice today when he called out Curt Maggitt for being soft, saying “One soft, all soft” over and over until the next player lined up in the defensive drill.
• Marquez North was seen on a stationary bike midway through practice, but he did not appear to be injured or in any considerable pain.
• Receivers coach Zach Azzani stressed to his receivers to have a “burst” in their routes, and he seemed particularly to focus on Von Pearson when emphasizing his point.

Observations:

All three quarterbacks still looked inconsistent, and none of them are really separating themselves at this point. It is only the first week of practice, however, and separation at this point was not really expected. We may know more Saturday after the team’s first scrimmage.

Devaun Swafford is still learning the safety position, and it showed today in practice as Von Pearson beat him for the aforementioned TD grab during one-on-one drills. So far Swafford has looked fine, but a few slip-ups here and there are expected.

Marlin Lane and Jalen Hurd still seem to be the first and second running backs for the Vols, but Devrin Young has increasingly taken more snaps and been more of a leader so far for the young unit. A spot on the three-deep depth chart for Young may not be out of the question.