Tennessee offensive lineman Brett Kendrick (63), a fifth-year senior, said the Vols take pride in their series success against Kentucky. The Vols take on the Wildcats tonight in Lexington.KNOXVILLE – Tennessee football coach Butch Jones said Wednesday that he has “absolutely no say” in regards to decisions over whether injured players are allowed to continue playing.
During his weekly Wednesday meeting with reporters, Jones was asked several questions about his handling of a situation in Saturday’s loss to Kentucky involving offensive tackle Brett Kendrick, who will miss Saturday’s game against Southern Mississippi with an apparent injury.
A Tuesday report from an Internet football blog called thereadoptional.com cited anonymous sources implicating that the Tennessee staff allowed Kendrick to play for at least two quarters in last week’s 29-26 loss at Kentucky, even while he exhibited concussion-like symptoms.
“I’ll tell you this: we would never knowingly put a student-athlete in harm’s way,” Jones said Wednesday. “Our medical staff has full authority on removing from players from competition but also has the authority to return players to competition.”
Tennessee athletic director John Currie also issued a statement on the issue through a Tennessee athletics spokesperson.