KNOXVILLE - The green noncontact jersey worn by Jalen Reeves-Maybin for Tennessee's preseason football practices last week allowed the star linebacker to keep a closer eye on the reserves and young players at his position.
The senior has liked what he's seen.
Depth behind the starting duo of Reeves-Maybin and Darrin Kirkland Jr. is a question mark going into the season for the Volunteers, who are trying to sort out the position this month.
"It's been a lot of competition," Reeves-Maybin said last week. "A lot of the guys in the room have been there for two or three years, and I can really tell the whole confidence and the way they're playing, the game looks like it's slowing down to a lot of them. They're able to make plays and they're able to talk football like a veteran should.
"It's been fun being in that room and being able to talk as much as football as we can without having to teach as much basic stuff."
Last week, first-year defensive coordinator Bob Shoop indicated three linebackers - former Baylor School standout Colton Jumper in the middle and Cortez McDowell and Quart'e Sapp at the other spot - had maintained the separation from the rest of the group they created during spring practice.
Dillon Bates, Elliott Berry and Gavin Bryant will have the chance to help the Vols on special teams, and Kenny Bynum may be the choice for Tennessee when it shifts into a more traditional 4-3 defense for the run-heavy opponents on the schedule.
Tennessee also is getting its first real look at freshmen Daniel Bituli and Ja'Quain Blakely. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound Bituli was a consensus four-star recruit, and the 6-foot-2, 230-pound Blakely was a four-star prospect and the No. 26 player in Georgia according to Rivals.com.
Both newcomers led their teams to state championships last fall.
"They've both been doing really good," Reeves-Maybin said.
"With Blakely, he's really smart. The high school that he comes from (Colquitt County, Ga.), they do a lot there, and his knowledge when he came in, it surprised me. I was just teaching him things, and he would already know a lot of stuff I was teaching him. Bituli's the same way. He's a smart kid who's really athletic.
"It's kind of different from the rest of the linebackers. Those two are probably the biggest two linebackers we have, and it's kind of weird because they're the youngest. They definitely work, and they're eager to get out there and make plays. I'm impressed by what they've been able to provide."
Jumper, who joined the Vols as a walk-on, started three games alongside Reeves-Maybin early last season before giving way to Kirkland and finished the year with 10 tackles.
"I've always been a big fan of Colton," Reeves-Maybin said. "He comes in, he works, he's athletic, he's smart and he's what a linebacker is supposed to be. The way he's been playing, he's been playing like that since he got here. That's what I expect of him. I can't speak on how big his role's going to be, but I know if someone goes down, I have no problem with him stepping in there and making plays for us."
Sapp received a medical redshirt after foot surgery cut short his freshman season after four games, but he was a spring practice standout who showed promising athleticism and a nose for the football.
"I definitely see him picking up from where he left off in the spring," Reeves-Maybin said. "He's still developing. He's not making as many young-guy mistakes as he would in the past or last year.
"I'm anxious to see him keep growing and keep getting that confidence."
In his third season at Reeves-Maybin's understudy, McDowell was Tennessee's top special-teams tackler as a freshman in 2014 after Reeves-Maybin did the same in 2013, and the former four-star recruit in 2015 was Reeves-Maybin's backup and again starred on the Vols' coverage units.
McDowell assumed most of the first-team work last week with Reeves-Maybin limited.
"I definitely have a lot of confidence in his skills," Reeves-Maybin said.
"We've got competition at linebacker, and there's only two of them on the field. It's hard to get out there. It's a great problem to have, and I know if one of us goes down, I don't have a problem with the backups coming in and stepping up and us depending on them."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.