Tennessee freshman tight end Ethan Wolf, left, will get his first taste of big-time college football tonight when the Vols host Utah State to open the 2014 season.KNOXVILLE -- Ethan Wolf was glad to be back at Tennessee's football practice on Saturday night.
The Volunteers were probably happier to welcome back their top tight end to the offense after he missed some practices this week due to injury.
The sophomore had a steady showing at Neyland Stadium on Saturday night by making multiple catches in team and one-on-one periods.
"You never really realize how much it sucks to sit out until you do," Wolf said. "I got a taste of it last year. Granted, we had the bye week, so I didn't really know games-wise, butI certainly wanted to be out there with the rest of the team and my brothers out there.
"It felt great to be back, and everything felt great, so we're taking some huge strides forward."
Despite missing one game and being slowed noticeably by an early-season knee injury, Wolf caught 23 passes for 212 yards in 12 games as a freshman.
During 7-on-7 passing drills on Saturday night, he caught a short pass in the flat from Joshua Dobbs and hauled in a strike thrown down the seam of the field by freshman Quinten Dormady.
He added a nice back-shoulder catch in end-zone one-on-one work and snagged a pass from Dobbs to convert on third down during a later team period.
Head coach Butch Jones said Tennessee's passing game performed better on Saturday partly due to Wolf's return.
"Having Ethan Wolf in practice I thought was obviously a benefit for our offense," he said.
The Vols want to utilize the tight end in the passing game as part of their offense, so Wolf is an undervalued aspect of Tennessee's attack.
"Things have been going good," he said. "I wasn't out for a tremendous amount of time. I was just doing a lot of rehab and lifting, stuff like that. It wasn't a very severe injury. There's nothing really to worry about.
"I'm glad to be back, and I'm going to keep progressing and keep doing treatment to prevent anything else to happen."
Tennessee wide receiver Vincent Perry makes a leaping touchdown catch against cornerback Rashaan Gaulden during the Vols' open practice at Neyland Stadium on Aug. 15, 2015.Perry impresses
Freshman receiver Vincent Perry was another player who had a solid showing on Saturday night.
The walk-on, who came to Tennessee as blueshirt who won't go on scholarship until January, made a leaping grab along the sideline against fellow freshman Micah Abernathy and beat the cornerback again to catch a touchdown pass in red-zone work.
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound slot receiver out of Nashville's Hillsboro High School added another short catch during a team period.
"We saw it tonight. He made some really good catches," Dobbs said. "That's great to see. He's always still learning and still progressing just like Jauan, just like any young guy. But he's making plays out there, which we like to see."
With Pig Howard and Jason Croom limited and Marquez North out, Tennessee needed some other receivers to step up, and freshmen Perry and Jauan Jennings made some nice plays.
Jones also praised Josh Malone and Johnathon Johnson for their consistency.
Perry has "continuously gotten better" throughout training camp, he added.
"(With) freshmen there's good days and there's days where you struggle," Jones said. "Vincent has done a very good job. I think he's playing with confidence right now. The game is starting to slow down for him and all the freshmen, and I thought it was evident tonight."
How many freshmen?
The Vols played 23 freshmen last season, but Jones isn't sure how many of Tennessee's first-year players will see the field in 2015.
"I was looking at that today, and I wouldn't want to put a number on it right now, because we're still relatively early in training camp," he said. "It's all how they develop. Every day they get better. Special teams obviously is very, very critical for them, having important roles as well.
"As camp goes on, individuals will continue to define their roles."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.