KNOXVILLE -- Todd Kelly Jr. may be healthy enough to play for Tennessee in its home finale against Missouri on Saturday.
The Volunteers will spend the week readying the replacements for their starting safety anyways.
Tennessee coach Butch Jones on Monday said Kelly, the team's leading tackler, is day to day after spraining his right ankle in the win against Kentucky, leaving his status for Saturday's game against the Tigers in doubt.
"The great thing about T.K. is he's so cerebral," Jones said. "He understands the defense and he understands that we can have a luxury a little bit to make sure he's healthy before we put him back on the field in terms of the practice reps. He'll get the mental reps today, and then we'll see where he's at on Tuesday."
The secondary hasn't been immune from the injuries that have ravaged Tennessee's defense.
All-SEC cornerback Cameron Sutton returned from a six-game absence against the Wildcats. Also at corner, Justin Martin and Malik Foreman each were suspended for a game, and Foreman missed three straight games with injury before also coming back against Kentucky.
At safety, Micah Abernathy battled injuries all October and sat out the South Carolina loss, and Evan Berry suffered a season-ending injury against Tennessee Tech.
"We've had a next-man mentality," defensive backs coach Willie Martinez said. "To say we're not going to miss a player, I'd be lying to you. He's done a tremendous job of leadership and has been very consistent.
"The next guy's got to step up, just like it's been the whole year, and not worry about who's not going to be playing and prepare for a very good Missouri offense that has done a great job all year."
Alabama running back Bo Scarbrough runs past Tennessee's Stephen Griffin during last Saturday's 109-yard performance in the Crimson Tide's 49-10 win in Neyland Stadium.If Kelly, who has a team-best 67 tackles with two interceptions, two tackles for loss and one sack this season, can't go against Missouri, Tennessee could turn to sophomore Stephen Griffin, who replaced him in the second half against Kentucky.
Griffin had seen limited action in his career prior to replacing Kelly, but a few plays after coming in he forced a pivotal fumble with Kentucky on the verge of a first-and-goal situation inside Tennessee's 5-yard line.
Though Griffin missed the tackle in the hole on Jojo Kemp's 71-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, Martinez said the significant action "builds some confidence" for the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Charlotte-area product.
"It was great to get Stephen back on the field, and Stephen has been hampered by injuries all year," Jones said. "He just hasn't been able to get healthy, and I give that young man credit. He's worked, he worked, he worked, he worked and he say, 'Coach, I'm going to go.'
"All of the sudden in the critical moment of the game, he's in the game and obviously the critical turnover we were able to generate was very, very important. We're going to need more of that."
Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 11/12/16. Tennessee's Daniel Bituli (35) and Nigel Warrior (18) lock on Kentucky's Jeff Badet (13) as he gets knocked into the air during the first quarter of play. The Tennessee Volunteers played the Kentucky Wildcats at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, November 12, 2016. Though Abernathy should start at the other safety spot, the Vols will give mercurial freshman Nigel Warrior increased work in practice this week to prepare him in case he's needed for extended action against Missouri, which ranks second in the SEC in total offense behind quarterback Drew Lock.
"Nigel's getting better each and every day," Martinez said. "The safety position is totally different than the corner position, and what I mean by that is you've got to make all the calls and you've got to make all the checks -- not that he can't do that, but there's a comfort level. There's experience (needed) there.
"The times that he's been in there, he's done a great job. It's just getting better each and every day, and he'll play this game. He's ready for the challenge, and he's getting better each and every game. He's done a really good job on special teams. You can see the confidence coming. We're excited about him. We are.
"He's done a great job, and he'll be a guy we're going to be counting on this ball game."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.