Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Wide receiver Jordan Murphy (11) goes down after making a catch during Tennessee's Orange and White game at Neyland Stadium on April 13.KNOXVILLE - Terrell Bailey and Jordan Murphy are no longer part of the Tennessee football team, second-year Volunteers coach Jeremy Pruitt confirmed Wednesday.
Bailey, who was a sophomore defensive back, and Murphy, a junior receiver, no longer appear on the roster on the school's website. Pruitt called it "their decision to leave" when he spoke about the two players during the weekly teleconference for Southeastern Conference football coaches.
Bailey and Murphy were part of former Vols coach Butch Jones' final signing class in Knoxville two years ago.
Murphy appeared in 17 games (one start) at Tennessee and had 167 yards on 12 catches and 58 yards on two carries. One of those runs was a 59-yard reverse against Kentucky in the Vols' 24-7 upset of the 12th-ranked Wildcats last season.
Bailey appeared in nine games as a redshirt freshman last year, playing as a reserve outside linebacker and on special teams and totaling six tackles.
Earlier this week, Murphy commented on a video on Twitter making fun of the Vols' 38-30 loss to Georgia State this past Saturday with the caption "Man y'all can't tell me this ain't funny."
Injury report
Inside linebacker Daniel Bituli practiced some Tuesday and Wednesday, and Pruitt said the team's defensive play caller "could see some snaps" during Saturday night's home game against BYU.
The 6-foot-3, 235-pound senior, who has led the team in tackles each of the past two seasons, missed the season opener due to what Pruitt has termed minor knee surgery that was performed in mid-August.
Pruitt also said junior running back Tim Jordan turned an ankle and has been out this week. Jordan, who was second on the team in rushing in 2018 with 522 yards, had 16 yards on seven carries against the Panthers.
In addition, offensive lineman Trey Smith will again be a game-time decision. The 6-foot-6, 330-pound junior was in for 31 snaps in the season opener after being cleared by doctors to play again after dealing with blood clots in his lungs.
Position changes
Tennessee freshmen Aaron Beasley and Jerrod Means switched from defense to offense this week.
Beasley, who was termed an athlete during his recruitment, started the preseason at defensive back before moving up to work some at outside linebacker. This week he has practiced at running back, where he did a lot of damage in high school by rushing for 1,961 yards as a senior at Georgia's Heard County. He also had 50 tackles and three interceptions in 2018.
After starting preseason camp at defensive back, Means was moved back to receiver, the position at which he was recruited.
Beasley's move was prompted by the injury to Jordan.
"We have a couple of positions ... that we're thin," Pruitt said Wednesday. "When Jeremy Banks moved to inside linebacker, it made us thin at running back. Aaron is a really good football player; it's why we wanted him here. He's a team guy and he wants to contribute.
"We wanted to give Jerrod a look (at cornerback). We're thin at the position, but he's familiar with receiver."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.