KNOXVILLE - Injuries on the offensive line could change Tennessee's practice plan for the rest of a week that coach Butch Jones originally hoped to end with a Saturday scrimmage.
With right tackle Chance Hall out for the season and several other linemen working through injuries, the Volunteers are in improvisation mode and may have to stay that way at least through Saturday's 11th scheduled preseason practice.
"We were set to scrimmage on Saturday and we may change that with where we are based on the offensive line, because we need a full group to make it as competitive as possible," Jones said. "Our defensive line needs it; our entire team needs it."
Senior right tackle Brett Kendrick returned to practice Tuesday, and Jones said sophomore tackle Marcus Tatum and freshman guard Trey Smith are expected to return "shortly."
Tennessee defensive backs and special teams coordinator Charlton Warren speaks to players as Tennessee head coach Butch Jones looks during football practice at Anderson Training Facility in Knoxville, Tenn. on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017.(Caitie McMekin /Knoxville News Sentinel via AP)In the meantime, the nicks and bruises present opportunities for a group of freshmen and reserves who are helping to fill the offense's front line in practice as the Vols enter the heart of training camp leading up to the season-opening game against Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Sept. 4.
"The individuals who are gaining an inordinate amount of repetitions, that's a great opportunity," Jones said. "It's in your mindset and how you approach it. Are you trying to survive the day? Or are you trying to put your identity and really solidify yourself as one of those individuals we can count on playing play in and play out?
Venzell Boulware, Devante Brooks and Ryan Johnson, who are unlikely to start, are among the group getting more action in practice.
Offensive line coach Walt Wells would like to have a starting five settled on by the week of the Georgia Tech game, he said Sunday.
"You see how it is," Wells said. "Things happen, especially up front. We've got to do a great job of staying off the ground and making sure we don't get hurt anymore. But things happen."
Brooks has played three positions in practice during the interim, and senior center Coleman Thomas has played some guard, even though Wells said Thomas will be a center this season.
"We're just plug and play right now," Wells said. "There's some guys that will start off the day at practice where they're at, and we just kind of move everybody around."
Wells said he has "seven to nine" guys who could play this season and the staff is open to rotating players in positions where competitions might be tight.
The group got used to shuffling around last year, and it's already doing so again just in preseason practice.
"We're going to get it back," Wells said of the unit's depth. "It's just a matter of time and a short matter of time. You can't worry about it. Coach the ones that are out here, help the ones that aren't and then you move on."
"The mentality part of it is it's next man up," Wells said. "You've just got to go. Defenses in the SEC don't care. You've just got to go out there and be ready to go, ready to play."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.