Tennessee football: Jarrett Guarantano status leads Jeremy Pruitt presser

Jarrett Guarantano was the story of the Tennessee football Volunteers Monday.

On Saturday, Jarrett Guarantano suffered a head injury early in the second half. Tennessee football failed to earn a first down on its next four offensive drives as the Arkansas Razorbacks built a 24-13 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Naturally, beyond the loss that has everybody upset about the situation on Rocky Top, Guarantano’s health was the story of the day Monday as Jeremy Pruitt took the podium for his weekly Monday press conference. Pruitt said Guarantano’s status is day to day.

If Guarantano is not ready to go on Saturday, Tennessee football will have to turn to Brian Maurer, Harrison Bailey or J.T. Shrout, all of whom have seen action at some point this year. Here’s what Pruitt said about Guarantano. You can see the full press conference above.

"“Our medical staff didn’t feel like it was in his best interest to play the rest of the game, so we held him out. It’ll be day-to-day this week. We’ll work the other guys and see how we develop this week. We’ll work a good game plan that fits all of those guys.”"

Bailey is obviously the one generating the most hype as a five-star freshman. UT did move the ball once he got into the game on the final two drives, but it had little to do with him, and the play-calling by Jim Chaney left a lot to be desired.

Maurer was the quarterback on those four drives in which the Vols failed to earn a first down, although there was a defensive holding that got them one on one of the drives. J.T. Shrout threw an interception on his only drive of the season, against the Kentucky Wildcats.

Beyond the quarterback situation, there were other bits of news in Pruitt’s media session that we need to address. Here are other updates on the state of Tennessee football amidst its 2-4 record ahead of a showdown with the Texas A&M Aggies this week.

LaTrell Bumphus injured

Towards the end of the press conference, Pruitt noted that somebody fell on senior edge rusher LaTrell Bumphus’ leg during warmups. He’s probably out four to six weeks, which likely means he will miss the rest of the season.

Updates on defensive back issues

Everybody knows the secondary had numerous issues in its play on Saturday. Pruitt addressed what could be part of the problem on Monday. He noted the limited availability of Alontae Taylor and Shawn Shamburger, two players who were supposed to start this year. Shamburger didn’t even travel with the team to face Arkansas.

Theo Jackson and Kenneth George Jr. filled in for both of them over the weekend. What happens going forward remains anybody’s guess, but there are clearly real issues that need to be worked out. Here’s a bit of what Pruitt said about Jackson and George.

"“Theo (Jackson) is a guy that has really played STAR, he’s played money, he’s played safety. He really can play any one of those positions. He’s a smart guy. He made some plays in the game Saturday. He probably gave up a couple plays that he’ll work hard to fix. Kenneth George has played off and on for us for the last year and when he’s played, he’s been really consistent. I didn’t feel like that from a technical standpoint that was probably one of his better games. We got to work hard to clean him up on some of his technique.”"

Whatever Pruitt needs to fix, he’s running out of time to do it. The Vols have three top 25 teams left as the final four games on its schedule, and two of them are top 10 teams. Texas A&M, ranked No. 5, is on the slate this week.

Simply put, Tennessee football is in trouble. The Vanderbilt Commodores are the only likely win left on their schedule. It’s hard to see the Vols beating A&M or the Florida Gators, and the Auburn Tigers are pretty unlikely at this point too.