Although August camps are up and running throughout college football, the offseason adage of “no news is good news” can still apply.
That was certainly the case at Tennessee this weekend, with junior defensive back Jourdan Thomas suffering a season-ending knee injury during Saturday’s third preseason practice. The Volunteers held their fourth workout Sunday and will practice again Monday before taking Tuesday off.
Thomas, a 6-foot-2, 205-pounder from Montgomery, Alabama, had been working mostly with the first team at the “star” position. Backing Thomas up at that spot has been promising freshman Boo Carter of Bradley Central, with redshirt sophomore Christian Harrison taking reps there as well.
Tennessee fourth-year defensive coordinator Tim Banks discussed the star — the extra defensive back when five are used in the secondary — last Tuesday in a news conference.
“That position is extremely important,” Banks said. “We ask them to do a lot from a coverage perspective, but they also have to be great blitzers. They have to be able to get off blocks. We have really worked hard between Jourdan Thomas and Christian Harrison and Boo Carter, but if I am being honest, we have worked everybody at that position because it is super important.