KNOXVILLE – Jacques Smith’s splendid spring came to a crashing end during Wednesday’s practice.
The Tennessee defensive end and former Ooltewah High School star suffered an undisclosed foot injury Wednesday that will keep him out possibly until June.
“He’s hurt,” UT coach Derek Dooley said after Thursday’s in Neyland Stadium, “but we won’t know until the doctors get a full look at him (and) the extent of it. Probably the worst-case scenario – we do expect him to be full-go by June, which is the summer program. But I don’t know. We get that initial deal from (Jason) McVeigh, who’s the trainer, but I always want to reserve what we say until we get the official word from the doc.”
Smith, who thrived as a freshman last season as a pass-rushing specialist off the bench, had played his way into an entrenched role as a starter and one of the better players on the Volunteers’ defense.
“Jacques, he had a wonderful spring,” said defensive end Steven Fowlkes, who worked with the first four on the defensive line on Thursday.