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Tennessee Vols morning report: Football practice, Jason Witten

By Caleb Calhoun

GAINESVILLE, FL - SEPTEMBER 17: A fan holds a sign in support of the Tennessee Volunteers before the game against the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 17, 2011 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FL - SEPTEMBER 17: A fan holds a sign in support of the Tennessee Volunteers before the game against the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 17, 2011 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee Vols football practice, Jason Witten, John Currie and basketball in Europe lead the Volunteers news for Monday, Aug. 7, 2017.

Happy Monday morning to everybody! If you’re in the Tennessee Vols’ backyard on Rocky Top or anywhere across the Eastern U.S., it’s likely a very rainy Monday.

But it’s also one day closer to football season, which makes everything brighter. And things are very bright for Vol Nation.

After all, over the weekend they were well-represented with Justin Gatlin and Christian Coleman both beating Usain Bolt to finish No. 1 and No. 2 respectively at the 100m world championships.

Then came Sunday, and Butch Jones’s team hit the practice field again. There’s also a touching letter from Jason Witten and updates from a John Currie interview along with Vols basketball in Europe to get to.

Let’s start with practice.

Offensive and defensive lines the focus of practice Sunday – Dan Fleser, Knoxville News Sentinel

Over the weekend, Tennessee football received devastating news that offensive tackle Chance Hall would have season-ending surgery. They also had three other players miss practice Friday up front. The offensive and defensive lines both have new coaches in Walt Wells and Brady Hoke. And both are tasked with retooling their units, which was a focus of Sunday’s practice. And both spoke to the media as well on Sunday.

"Brady Hoke and Walt Wells will set the lines on Tennessee football for this season. The assistants on coach Butch Jones’ staff direct the defensive and offensive lines, respectively."

Jason Witten shares touching letter to Jerry Jones – Twitter

Entering his 15th season with the Dallas Cowboys, legendary Tennessee Vols tight end Jason Witten is a sure hall-of-famer. But it’s crazy to think that he fell in the 2003 NFL Draft to Jerry Jones’s team with nowhere near the respect he deserved. As a result, it was only fitting that he would share a very touching letter to the Cowboys owner as he entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame over the weekend. Here’s a bit of what he said.

"“On April 26, 2003, the phone rang, and my lifelong dream came true – the Dallas Cowboys selected me to be a member of the greatest sports franchise in the world. I will never forget that call – Mr. Jones on the other end asking if I want to join the Dallas Cowboys.”"

John Currie talks about Butch Jones in interview – The Sports Source with John Pennington

Butch Jones already entered the 2017 season with some hot seat talk, and the arrival of new Tennessee Vols athletic director John Currie only increased that speculation. Currie discussed Jones and other things in a Sunday interview. Currie talked about the improvements the program has made under Jones and definitely endorsed him.

"“I’m excited about what I’ve seen, of how Butch Jones has developed the foundation for a long and successful, sustainable high-level program.”"

Tennessee Vols basketball program continues European tour – Grant Ramey, GoVols247

Rick Barnes continues to get his basketball team prepared with the season over three months away. Right now, he’s got them in Europe playing basketball and sightseeing. They have posted quite a few photos of where they’ve been on social media.

"Tennessee basketball’s 10-day European tour continued on Sunday, as the Vols traveled from Barcelona to Valencia, via Cambrils."

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