KNOXVILLE – The reality was staring Da’Rick Rogers square in the face.
The University of Tennessee receiver realized then, in the middle of spring practice more than four months ago, that reliable senior receivers Denarius Moore and Gerald Jones and tight end Luke Stocker were gone and left a heap of responsibility on Rogers’ broad shoulders.
“The pressure of saying you have to replace G-Jones and D-Mo and Luke Stocker,” the former Calhoun High star said last week, “that alone is just, ‘OK, we’ve got to get in gear and we’ve really got to perform this year, so we’ve got to work as hard as we can as many days as we can to get where we need to be.'”
For Rogers, the talented sophomore expected to be a primary target for quarterback Tyler Bray this fall, the maturation process began, he said, during last October’s loss at South Carolina and flourished during spring practice. Through little things like sitting in the front of the Volunteers’ special-teams meeting, the process has created results.
“Compared to the spring,” Rogers said, “I feel like a whole new person almost. As a human, as a person, I’ve matured a lot. I’ve buckled down with school and just life in general. Like [UT] coach [Derek] Dooley said, the attitude outside shows a lot in here, so when I have a good attitude out there and things are clicking, I roll in here and it’s just I’m playing football.”