Tennessee football: Charges against Vols DB Bryce Thompson dismissed

Domestic assault charges have been dismissed against Tennessee football defensive back Bryce Thompson. The Volunteers sophomore was arrested back in August.

A little over four weeks after his arrest, the misdemeanor domestic assault charge against Tennessee football defensive back Bryce Thompson has been dismissed. Thompson was reinstated by Jeremy Pruitt ahead of the Vols’ game against the Chattanooga Mocs after he missed the first two games.

According to WATE, the announcement came during a hearing Monday. The plaintiff chose not to press charges. Thompson had been arrested a week before the season started after an altercation with a woman in a dorm in which he allegedly made verbal threats. However, there were no reports of physical violence.

In 2018, Thompson was a freshman All-American cornerback for Tennessee football. He and Alontae Taylor were expected to be the future for the Vols in the secondary before this charge hit. When it did, freshman Warren Burrell had to fill in for him the first two games.

However, with him being reinstated and the charge behind him now, Thompson can head into the bye week focusing solely on getting back into a rhythm. Obviously, after a 34-3 loss to the Florida Gators, he is needed to do just that, and the team needs him as well.

Whether or not his reinstatement is for better or for worse, though, is a bit up in the air. After all, in this incident, he was accused of threatening to slap the girl he was in an altercation with and then threatening to shoot up the school. He also changed his story to police about his involvement in damaging property on campus during the night.

Meanwhile, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported in late August that there was a mutual restraining order against Thompson from another woman dating back to January of 2018, a month before he signed with Tennessee football out of South Carolina. That was a major red flag.

However, Jeremy Pruitt said after Thompson was reinstated that there is a plan in place for him. If that involves anger management, that is a start. And considering the fact that no actual contact was made during this incident, the dropping of the charge makes it understandable for Pruitt to allow him back on the team.

Now, though, the focus needs to be on him getting back to the level he was at as a freshman while he also works to control his anger. If those things can happen, his future on Rocky Top and beyond still remains bright.