Tyler Byrd (10) is congratulated by Brett Kendrick (63) and other Vols linemen after Byrd scored a touchdown in a football game against the Massachusetts Minutemen in Knoxville on Sept. 23, 2017.KNOXVILLE - Brett Kendrick and his Tennessee football teammates have read the social media posts, have heard the disgruntled chatter and are generally aware of their fan base's unrest as they prepare to host South Carolina at noon this Saturday.
If not, the topic came up when the Vols met Sunday night after taking a few days off at the end of a bye week that coincided with the university's fall break.
"It's like when you lose, everything gets magnified," Kendrick, the redshirt senior offensive tackle, said Monday. "A loss like that, it was just much worse."
The Vols (3-2, 0-2) were effectively eliminated from the Southeastern Conference East race with a 41-0 loss to Georgia two Saturdays ago and have grappled with rumors of team disunity in its wake.
But coach Butch Jones said Monday that "the locker room is strong," and Kendrick offered a plan for coping with the scrutiny that Jones and the program are facing as they await the Gamecocks (4-2, 2-2).
"Just block out the outside noise," Kendrick said of the strategy discussed during the Sunday team meeting.
Jones said Monday that starting defensive end Darrell Taylor is suspended indefinitely due to "multiple factors." Several media outlets reported that Taylor was involved in an altercation with a teammate at practice Thursday.
Kendrick said "we've got a really close team," and defensive tackle Kendal Vickers noted that he played video games with a handful of teammates over the weekend.
"We're close," said Vickers, also a redshirt senior. "There's nothing going on. There's no imbalance with the chemistry. None of that.
"There's only so much you can say at a point, but I'm really just trying to stress that we have a lot of season left. We still have a lot to play for."
Tennessee opened the week as a 2 1/2-point favorite over South Carolina, which defeated Arkansas 48-22 on Saturday. Kendrick said he thought the Vols' bye week came at "a perfect time."
Aside from a trip to play No. 1 Alabama next week, Tennessee figures to be a favorite or only a slight underdog in the rest of its games, leaving open the possibility that the team could match or better its nine-win totals from the past two seasons.
Obviously, Kendrick said, winning the rest of the games is the goal.
"But we talk about seniors leaving a legacy," said Kendrick, one of four players who have been on the roster for all of Jones' tenure. "And I want to leave a legacy that with all the negativity around the program, our seniors turned the team around and we went out on a good note and on a strong rest of the season. That's what I hope to leave."
Jones said he told the players they have to learn from their mistakes - to "learn from our past but you have to let the past go."
He said that "the only day we have is today."
"So that's really been our message is getting back to being 1-0, just win the day," Jones said. "In terms from being around our players, they're as committed as they have ever been and I see it every day, and that is what leads me to believe that we're going to be OK. I see it every single day, and there are a lot of individuals who take pride in being part of Tennessee football and understanding what it entails.
"But, I think with a lot of the older players, we've been here before. We've been through this, so the only way you go about it is put your head down and continue to work every day."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.