KNOXVILLE – Butch Jones isn’t letting his Tennessee football team slow down as the Volunteers enter the final two weeks of spring practice.
The fourth-year coach made Tuesday’s session all about competition, with plenty of contact and one-on-one drills early in practice.
The list of absentees may be already long and still growing, but the Vols aren’t tapping the brakes.
Promising sophomore Austin Smith’s spring is over. The defensive end will miss the final five practices after suffering a shoulder injury last week.“We have five opportunities left, and we have to get the most out of these opportunities,” Jones said after practice. “It’s all about composure, too, in competitive situations. We’re searching for those 25 points, which we talk about, but it’s making clutch plays and being clutch players.”
Jones said he spoke to the team before practice about Monday night’s NCAA tournament final, won by Villanova on a Kris Jenkins 3-pointer at the buzzer.