KNOXVILLE - Darrin Kirkland Jr. may have returned to the middle of Tennessee's defense, but he wasn't himself.
The sophomore linebacker's promising second season with the Volunteers was derailed before it even got off the ground due to an ankle injury he suffered in the second game against Virginia Tech.
Darrin Kirkland Jr. (34) goes through drills before the game. The University of Tennessee Orange/White Spring Football Game was held at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville on April 16, 2016.Kirkland missed five games before returning against South Carolina, but he made two tackles or fewer in three of the final five games of the regular season.
"I wasn't extremely healthy," he said after Tennessee's practice Monday. "I kind of got banged up on my way coming back. My ankle wasn't 100 percent and I have shoulder problems that I had throughout the spring. Bowl prep, I'm just getting healthy and feeling better day by day and getting good.
"I felt like I'm back to myself (with) my speed and my mentality," Kirkland added, "- a ready-to-make-plays type of deal."
An All-SEC freshman team selection last season, Kirkland was Tennessee's leading tackler with 16 stops through two games before his injury, and upon his return he had eight at South Carolina and nine against Missouri after hurting his shoulder early in the game.
The Vols are glad to see Kirkland nearing full speed again.
"You see him on the field, I mean, he flies around," linebacker Cortez McDowell said. "He's our Mike linebacker and he's the captain of the defense. It's good to always have that vocal presence back, and also that work ethic that he brings on the table, it's always good to have that back as well."
Tennessee's linebackers were ravaged by injuries as All-SEC senior Jalen Reeves-Maybin and promising redshirt freshman Quart'e Sapp suffered season-ending injuries and Kirkland and McDowell missed multiple games due to injuries. The key absences certainly limited the Vols, but McDowell cited a series of misalignments, communication problems and missed tackles that hurt the defense down the stretch.
"We lacked in our fundamentals, in my opinion," McDowell said. "That comes from everybody, myself included. I missed plays I should have made, and I take that back to my fundamentals, either late on a step or wrong reads, something like that.
"That's the benefit of having these extra practices is getting back to the fundamentals and the basics of our defense and what it takes to be a championship-caliber defense."
The Vols will return everyone in 2017 but Reeves-Maybin and strongside linebacker Kenny Bynum, but the experiences many of the reserves such as McDowell, Colton Jumper and Elliott Berry gained should help their development. Jumper finished as Tennessee's fourth-leading tackler, McDowell often thrived when he replaced Reeves-Maybin prior to his own injuries sapping his ability, and Berry had his moments as well.
"I'll definitely say I took some steps forward, but I've also taken some steps back," McDowell said. "There's still a lot of things I can correct for myself, but that experience helped me a lot this year understanding our scheme as a defense and helping the guys that's coming along, the younger guys, help them develop into great players here."
One younger player impressing both Kirkland and McDowell this month is freshman Daniel Bituli, whose nine tackles came mostly on special-teams coverage units.
The Nashville product is working at both linebacker positions, but Kirkland said his size and strength are fitting "really great" at inside linebacker, where Bituli's mentality is impressing his teammates.
"When he first got here, we had to stay a little extra (after practice) and talk to him and talk him through all our progressions and stuff like that," McDowell said. "The more he's been around us and our meetings, where he's seeing it visually and hearing it verbally, he's picked up on it. He's took his biggest strides in that way."
Kirkland made the biggest strides with his health by using the time between the regular-season finale against Vanderbilt and the start of Music City Bowl preparations for rest and frequent visits to the training room.
He wanted to lead by example by working his way back onto the field and playing through pain.
"It was just complete will power," Kirkland said. "I just had to be out there for my teammates and my brothers. Cam (Sutton) did the same thing. Alvin (Kamara) did the same thing. We put it back together that we're going to do whatever to help this team and finish the best possible."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.