Vols Football: Marcus Jackson Practices; Coleman Thomas Held Out
By Zach Ragan
One of the Vols’ injured offensive linemen practiced on Tuesday, while the other spent the afternoon rehabbing his injury.
Butch Jones said guard Marcus Jackson practiced in a limited role on Tuesday. He also spent some time in rehab, but Jones expects Jackson to be a full participant in practice on Wednesday. That’s good news for the Vols because Jackson is easily Tennessee’s best offensive lineman at this point.
Right tackle Coleman Thomas, on the other hand, was held out of practice on Tuesday. Jones said he is in a “wait and see” situation.
On Monday, Jones said that he subscribes to the theory that if a player doesn’t practice by Wednesday, they probably aren’t playing that week.
I don’t think that bodes well for Thomas’ chances to play this weekend. If he can’t go, I’d expect to see redshirt senior Jacob Gilliam (playing with a torn ACL, but says he’s “100%”) and redshirt freshman Brett Kendrick rotate at right tackle.
Worley Update:
There is at least a small reason to be concerned about quarterback Justin Worley. The senior from Rock Hill, SC practiced on Tuesday, but Jones didn’t exactly sound as optimistic about his status as Vol fans might hope, saying “he’s making progress, we will see how it goes”.
I think Worley plays against Alabama. But if for some reason he can’t go on Saturday night, I think the Vols give up on redshirting sophomore Josh Dobbs and trot him out there against Alabama. I don’t think there’s any way Nate Peterman starts against Alabama.