Football is an aggressive contact sport that can lead players to injury more often than not. Unfortunately for some players, the injuries can lead them to take time off whether it’s a quarter, a game, a season or at the most significant extreme, their career. Every team has to deal with injuries on a daily basis. Tennessee football is no exception.
Tennessee is heading into its back half of the season after a crucial bye week. The Volunteers (2-3) take on the Arkansas Razorbacks (2-3) this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt made reporters and fans aware that his players are staying pretty healthy.
Here is a small look into some injuries players have heading into the Arkansas game.
Jeremy Banks
Jeremy Banks, a junior linebacker, injured his ankle during the Kentucky game in Week 5. After Banks rolled his ankle, he has been struggling to fully recover from the high ankle sprain, according to Pruitt.
“Jeremy really had an ugly injury unfortunately early on in the Kentucky game,” Pruitt said. “Hopefully, he’ll be ready to play this week. We kept him out of practice last week. He’s practiced for two days and today he was pretty sore from it.”
It is unknown whether or not Banks will see the field on Saturday, but Pruitt seems hopeful the junior linebacker will see some snaps against Arkansas.
Jerome Carvin
Offensive lineman Jerome Carvin was kept out of practice last week as a result of turf toe. Throughout this week, he has been practicing with the team leading up to Saturday’s game against the Razorbacks. Pruitt has not mentioned if Carvin is set to play this weekend game, but the coach did say on Wednesday that “it’s the healthiest he’s looked since the Missouri game, so that’s a promising sign for him for the next couple of weeks.”
Wanya Morris
Pruitt doesn’t have much luck keeping his offensive line 100% healthy, and that is to be expected. Wayna Morris injured his ankle during Week 5 playing Kentucky. The young sophomore sat out the Alabama game but has a chance of returning to the field this Saturday.
Jahmir Johnson
Jahmir Johnson had a strong game against the South Carolina Gamecocks but ended up injuring his ankle and had to sit out three games. He returned to the field against Crimson Tide but was not 100%. Luckily, he had a bye week that allowed him to rest and regain his confidence back on the line. We will see how he performs in the game this Saturday.
COVID-19 related
The Tennessee football team had a few players miss Monday’s practice because of false-positive COVID-19 tests. With that said, there was still one round of tests left for the week. So, as of Wednesday, the team wasn’t fully cleared yet.
Out for the Season
Baylen Buchanan: The defensive back has been out since the 2019 season after complications with his spine.
Austin Pope: The tight end had back surgery over the summer and is most likely not going to see the field this season.
Len’Neth Whitehead: The freshman running back was recently allowed to start practicing after recovering from a foot injury. Unfortunately, he hurt his shoulder during practice last week and will undergo surgery next week. For obvious reasons, the young running back will not play this season.
