Tennessee football linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin will miss the Volunteers’ game against the Texas A&M Aggies. Darrin Kirkland Jr. is day-to-day.
For the second straight week, Tennessee football will have to win a game with linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin on the bench.
It’s also the Vols’ second road game of the year, which makes this that much more difficult.
Reeves-Maybin injured himself on a special teams play against the Ohio Bobcats. He tried to give it a go against the Florida Gators but struggled to do anything.
Related Story: 5 Biggest Reasons the Vols Are Undefeated
Butch Jones made the announcement Wednesday in a midweek media session. You can see that video here.
Reeves-Maybin injured himself on a special teams play against the Ohio Bobcats. He tried to give it a go against the Florida Gators but struggled to do anything.
This loss is devastating because Reeves-Maybin is the Joshua Dobbs of the Vols’ defense, the guy who keeps everybody composed and in line. Without him on the road, the unit could struggle severely against such a high-powered offense.
The Tennessee football defense nearly folded under Bob Shoop last week against the Georgia Bulldogs without him.
His absence along with Cameron Sutton’s injury are still killers for the Vols.
As far as Darrin Kirkland Jr. goes, Jones said the other starting linebacker for the Vols is day to day. He made the same statement about Jalen Hurd.
Kirkland got hurt in the Battle at Bristol against the Virginia Tech Hokies, and Reeves-Maybin suffered a minor injury against the Bulldogs last week, but not before he had a receiving touchdown.
Must Read: 10 Curses Joshua Dobbs Has Helped UT Break
In other good news for Tennessee football, Coleman Thomas should be back to full strength, and Justin Martin should be back and ready to travel with the team this week. That should significantly improve the Vols’ injury situation overall.
Maybe Thomas will be able to return to his old from from last year as an offensive lineman. And Martin’s return should give Shoop more options in the secondary this week, which is going to be crucial with the linebackers injuries and the high-powered offense of Kevin Sumlin’s Aggies.
With luck, perhaps Shoop’s genius could make up for these losses and contain Trevor Knight. However, that will be tough for the Vols.
As a result, their offense has got to step up in this game. This is going to be a shootout. So if Tennessee’s offense doesn’t come through, the Vols will lose.