Tennessee Vols morning report: Football depth chart, injuries and suspensions

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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The Tennessee Vols football depth chart along with injury and suspension news lead the Volunteers updates for Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017.

Happy opening day of SEC football! We’ve got five days of college football this weekend, obviously finishing with the Tennessee Vols facing the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Monday night.

It is time to get the season started! And for Rocky Top, that means looking ahead to the details of their first game of the year.

Our news today focuses on that, based on Butch Jones’s press conference from Wednesday. However, there are also other things to update you on.

Butch Jones previews Georgia Tech – UTSports

The Tennessee Vols face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta Monday as the second game of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic. It’s the final game of Week 1 of the college football season. Butch Jones held his weekly press conference previewing the game on Wednesday.

"The Vols’ game week officially started on Wednesday as the team had made practice schedule adjustments to prepare for its 2017 season opener against Georgia Tech on Monday, Sept. 4, in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia."

Tennessee Vols release depth chart for opener – Jesse Simonton Twitter account

Tennessee football’s depth chart has one true freshman in as a starter, another in competition to start, and quite a few surprises. At the same time, some things are still not solved.

"No decision on QB, LG, WR, WLB, FS and K."

Tennessee Vols injury & suspension report – Dan Fleser, Knoxville News Sentinel

Tennessee football junior linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. underwent surgery on Tuesday and will miss the game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The timetable for his return is still up in the air. Meanwhile, Josh Smith and Shy Tuttle are both banged up but practicing with the team. And Drew Richmond has been suspended for the opener.

"Two key players will miss Tennessee’s football opener, and three freshmen could start against Georgia Tech."