Jones: Tennessee's pass defense must 'get better in a hurry'

Bowling Green's Travis Greene (8) tries to get around Tennessee's Jalen Reeves-Maybin (21).  The Tennessee Volunteers hosted the Bowling Green Falcons at Nissan Stadium in Nashville September 5, 2015.
Bowling Green's Travis Greene (8) tries to get around Tennessee's Jalen Reeves-Maybin (21). The Tennessee Volunteers hosted the Bowling Green Falcons at Nissan Stadium in Nashville September 5, 2015.
photo Bowling Green's Travis Greene (8) tries to get around Tennessee's Jalen Reeves-Maybin (21). The Tennessee Volunteers hosted the Bowling Green Falcons at Nissan Stadium in Nashville September 5, 2015.

KNOXVILLE -- Butch Jones stated the obvious during his weekly news conference on Monday.

His Tennessee Volunteers, fresh off allowing more than 400 passing yards to Bowling Green in Saturday's season-opening win, are about to face an Oklahoma offense that nearly reached that mark in its first game under new coordinator Lincoln Riley.

"We need to get better in a hurry, because we have a football team coming in here that's skilled," Jones said.

"We did not play well defensively, at all, in the game," he added. "We had some individuals do some uncharacteristic things. Our players take pride in our performance and they understand that, and the great thing is we can work to correct the problems this week. It wasn't just the secondary."

Jones pointed to a number of areas that caused Tennessee's issues on Saturday.

He said the defensive line failed to generate a consistent pass rush. Tennessee's defense as a whole didn't communicate well and made too many mental errors. Jones thought the Vols struggled with poor tackling and poor leverage in space against Bowling Green's spread offense.

The Falcons deserve some credit, too, for simply making some excellent catches and even better throws.

"I don't have a problem," Jones said, "if you're in man coverage and the opponent makes a great play and it's a great throw and it's a great catch. It's football. It's sport."

Some players "panicked," Jones said, and tried to do too much instead of just handling their own jobs.

"That's inexcusable," he said. "And we understand that as coaches. That's on us. Our players understand it as well. It's everyone taking accountability to fix it and correct it, and we'll get it corrected."

Kelly's comeback

The Vols expect safety Todd Kelly Jr. to return to the starting lineup against the Sooners on Saturday.

The sophomore was in the hospital all last week dealing with an infection stemming from the removal of his tonsils last month and didn't start against Bowling Green, but Tennessee put him in the game in the second quarter and he handled a handful of series in the second half.

The Vols seemed to fair better in the secondary with him in the lineup instead of first-time starter Evan Berry.

"Todd brings a calming effect," Jones said. "It's just like Brian Randolph. Brian Randolph puts his time in, and he's one of those individuals who has a base-line level of performance. He can make checks, he gets us in the right calls and he's a problem-solver.

"T.K. is that exact same way. You could see the defense kind of relax -- not relax, but have a calmness about themselves when T.K. entered the game, because he works at it. It's important to him. He understands the nature of the safety position and what it means from a communicative aspect.

"He's 100 percent, and we expect him to be ready to go against Oklahoma."

photo Tennessee defensive coordinator John Jancek encourages a struggling Tennessee defense. The Tennessee Volunteers hosted the Bowling Green Falcons at Nissan Stadium in Nashville September 5, 2015.

Middle men

Nothing has changed for the Vols at middle linebacker.

Colton Jumper started and Darrin Kirkland Jr. rotated in often during Saturday's win. Jumper made two tackles, while Kirkland had a sack that nearly resulted in a fumble and defensive touchdown for the Vols.

"I thought Colton did a very, very good job of lining us up, communication-wise, getting us in the right defense," Jones said. "There was one play we would love to have back, and that's the fourth-and-3 play, but obviously. For the first game, and Colton being on the field for the first game, I thought he did a very good job."

Kirkland showed "the ability to be a very, very good football player," Jones said.

"Now it's just the mental part of the game," he added.

Jones said he was "very encouraged" with how both players fared in the opener.

Reps increasing for Martin, McKenzie

Cornerback Justin Martin and defensive tackles Kahlil McKenzie, two newcomers battling back from preseason injuries, will see an increase in practice reps this week.

Martin, who fell behind by missing most of three weeks with a knee sprain, played the final defensive series of the game.

"How can he handle a little more volume of special teams? How can he handle the volume defensively just from a mental perspective, let alone a physical standpoint?" Jones said.

"We'll increase his repetitions and see how that goes throughout the course of the week of practice."

McKenzie missed about a week of practice with a shoulder injury that had him in a non-contact jersey, and the freshman was the fifth defensive tackle to play when he went into the game early in the fourth quarter.

"Kahlil's working his way back into the rotation, and him missing about a week to a week-and-a-half really set his development back," Jones said.

"His reps will increase also in practice this week," he added, "and we'll see how much of the volume of a defense he can handle from a physical standpoint, from a mental standpoint. I was encouraged by the things I saw at the end of the game."

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.

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