KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee's injury situation is a mixed bag of good news and bad heading into the season's biggest game against Florida on Saturday.
Starting with the bad news: Star cornerback Cameron Sutton has a fractured bone in his ankle and will out indefinitely. The senior suffered the injury in the first quarter against Ohio on Saturday. Sources close to Sutton have indicated to the Times Free Press Sutton could miss three months.
"The first person in the training room on Sunday morning was Cam Sutton, and the last person to leave the training room was Cam Sutton," head coach Butch Jones said Monday, "because he wanted all of our players to know that this week football continues on and he's going to support them and be with them.
"He was in as good as a mood as you could possibly, and to me that speaks volumes about Cam Sutton's mentality, his love for this football and just his leadership. I've been really proud of him."
Linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. (ankle) will miss his second straight game after getting hurt against Virginia Tech.
Promising reserve linebacker Quart'e Sapp, who missed nearly all of last season after undergoing foot surgery, will miss the rest of the season due to an ACL injury suffered on Saturday.
There's good news for the Volunteers, though.
Offensive tackle Chance Hall (knee) and linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin (shoulder) are expected to practice today and should be "ready to go" for the Gators, Jones said.
After some concern the Vols got good news with Reeves-Maybin, who's dealing with a muscle strain.
"He's going to do everything that he possibly can to play in this game," Jones said. "If there's a will there's a way. Jalen already was feeling much better yesterday, so we fully anticipate him being ready to play."
Jones later back-tracked regarding Hall's status, saying he'd know more about the sophomore's availability for Florida after the next two days of practice.
"I know he's worked exceptionally hard with (head athletic trainer) Jason McVeigh," Jones said, "and he's been out practicing on his own in the movements, but as we know, when you put the pads on with the physicality and everything -- I'll know more today and I'll probably know even more on Tuesday."
Tennessee will get Justin Martin (ankle) and Malik Foreman (suspension) back in the secondary. Jones said wide receiver Josh Smith (ankle) is expected to play. There's a possibility defensive end LaTroy Lewis (ankle) could play after he was ruled out for two or three weeks last week.
With Sutton out, Martin and Emmanuel Moseley were listed as the starting cornerbacks on the team's depth chart, but Jones indicated freshman Baylen Buchanan would play after showing impressive poise and calm when pressed into action against Ohio.
Florida is dealing with some injuries as well, with Austin Appleby expected to step in at quarterback for the injured Luke Del Rio, while star wide receiver Antonio Callaway is questionable after sitting out the North Texas game with a hamstring injury.
Jim McElwain, Florida's second-year coach, said Monday he was closing practices this week to the media as the Gators prepare for their first road game after easy wins against Massachusetts, Kentucky and North Texas.
Tennessee will wear its smokey gray alternate jerseys on Saturday.
"We need a great homefield advantage," Jones said. "We need to get back to that. We have to do our part in providing some momentum, but we have a great fan base. It has to be electric. It has to be loud."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.