KNOXVILLE - Another quarterback change could be imminent at the University of Tennessee.
As the players were transitioning from individual to team periods of the media viewing portion of Tuesday's practice, redshirt freshman J.T. Shrout was in the huddle with the first-team offense.
Both junior Jarrett Guarantano and freshman Brian Maurer were also working.
The trio each got similar numbers of reps during individual drills with receivers Tuesday, with Shrout and Guarantano getting slightly more. Maurer, who is coming off his second consecutive week of suffering a concussion, spent some time speaking with trainers. He left Saturday's eventual 35-13 loss at top-ranked Alabama in the first quarter.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Tennessee quarterback J.T. Shrout (12) goes to pass against UTC during a NCAA football game at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019 in Knoxville, Tenn.Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt had noted Monday that the plan was to get all three ready.
"Well we'll get the other guys ready to play," Pruitt said. "It's no different than pretty much what we've done every week, whoever is going to be the starter takes the majority of the reps so we'll get those other guys ready to go and we'll know in the next couple of days about Brian (Maurer). I've not talked to our medical staff about where he's at today yet, but we're going to get the other guys ready."
The 6-foot-3, 213-pound Shrout has played in only two games this season, completing just 3 of 10 passes for 23 yards and a score. Most of his action came against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Sept. 14, when he threw for 23 yards in the 45-0 win.
He played in the final two drives of Saturday's loss, attempting a long pass downfield that was batted down.
Guarantano had replaced Maurer after the injury, completing 7 of 16 passes for 55 yards, but he was replaced by Shrout after a fumble in the end zone on a fourth-down sneak attempt.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.