One week from today, the 25th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers will open their third football season under coach Butch Jones against Bowling Green in Nashville.
Jones was a guest Friday afternoon on “Press Row” on Chattanooga’s ESPN 105.1 FM.
Q: Given that your team has developed this month but suffered some key injuries, has this been a bittersweet time?
A: “It has. Any time you lose the player of the caliber of a Marcus Jackson or a Rashaan Gaulden, it obviously eats at you. When you’re going through training camp, you know you’re going to have some obstacles and some adversity along the way, and you wonder who it’s going to be. I feel for those young men, just like I feel for Austin Sanders, LaDarrell McNeil and Vincent Perry.
“Most of our injuries have been noncontact injuries. Vincent Perry’s was just basically cutting on the grass, and his knee pops, but it has been great to see a lot of players really building their football identity. I’ve really liked this football team the last couple of weeks. They’ve invested exceptionally hard.”