Tennessee offensive linemen Jerome Carvin and Jahmir Johnson remain for Saturday’s flight game off Kentucky (noon ET, SEC Network), however, coach Jeremy Pruitt said they were in a better position than they were at this time last week.
Both trained on Tuesday, and Pruitt said it would be “a decision at the time of the match. “
Johnson missed the last two games due to an ankle injury after starting the first game of the season on the left tackle. Carvin the first two games on the right guard before being offside last week with an un healed injury.
In Carvin’s absence, Cade Mays switched from the right shot to the right guard, and Darnell Wright returned to the starting lineup with the right shot.
Tennessee’s offensive line struggled in the 44-21 loss to Georgia on Saturday.
In Kentucky (1-2), the Vols (2-1) will face a fourth-placeth in the SEC in general defense.
Tennessee will continue to have scrums on Sunday for the young players on the team who haven’t gained much playing time, if any, this season for development.
The Vols had such a scrum last weekend, and freshman quarterback Harrison Bailey took all the shots.
“It was a very, very smart task for many boys, for several reasons,” Pruitt said. “First of all, there were boys who were quarantined and just didn’t have enough representatives in the fall camp. “about it over and over again. It was smart for them and anything we have to keep doing to give them a chance to grow and expand as footballers. So it was smart.
Jarrett Guarantano is the only Tennessee quarterback to play in a game this season. Bailey joins J. T. Shrout and Brian Maurer as alternates. Bailey, a four-star prospect, the highest- rating rookie quarterback to point to Pruitt at the time.
“He can use (a scrum) every day, to be fair, just the speed of the game, get acquainted with an attack,” Pruitt said of Bailey. “We will continue to review to get you as many representatives as imaginable to help you grow and expand as a player, as we do with all our players. “
Blake Toppmeyer covers football from the University of Tennessee. Send an email to the blake. toppmeyer@knoxnews. com and stay with him on Twitter at btoppmeyer. If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, a virtual subscription will give you access to all of this. Current subscribers can click here to enroll in The Blake Subscribers Text Group that provides Football Flight updates and analytics.