Tennessee Football Releases First Injury Report for Arkansas Game

Tennessee Football released its first SEC injury report Wednesday evening for Saturday’s game against Arkansas. Kickoff between the Vols (4-1, 1-1 SEC) and Razorbacks (2-3, 0-1) is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. Eastern on the SEC Network.

Vols got Jaxson Moi and David Sanders back from injury at Miss. State

Daevin Hobbs was not listed on Wednesday’s injury report. The junior defensive lineman has been sidelined since suffering a foot injury late in fall camp.

“Daevin had a great offseason and played extremely well during training camp,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said Wednesday. “Unfortunate (injury), but these things happen in this game. (He has) done a great job in the rehabilitation process.”

Arkansas and Tennessee just had a few weeks off. The Vols won 41-34 in overtime at Mississippi State before the opener, removing freshman offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. and senior defensive lineman Jaxson Me of the injury report. Moi played 44 snaps in his return to Mississippi State and Sanders played 11 off the bench.

Sanders had been out since suffering an upper-body injury during practice on Aug. 27, three days before the 45-26 win over Syracuse in Atlanta to open the season. Moi was lost to an arm injury in the first half against Syracuse.

What Josh Heupel said this week about Jermod McCoy

The timeline for cornerback Jermod McCoy’s return remains unclear. He suffered a torn ACL during offseason training in January.

“Jermod continues to do a great job in his rehab with our medical team, our strength team,” Heupel said Monday. “Someone told me there was a report of a certain football match that he was focusing on until he got back.

“I think it’s unfair. Whoever said that, I don’t think he really understands Jermod and the situation. He’s done a really good job. He still has a long way to go.”

Corner of Tennessee Rickey Gibson III has also been out since suffering an upper-body injury in the first half against Syracuse, with the Colorado transfer Colton Hood and freshman Ty Redmond replacing Gibson and McCoy at corner.

McCoy returned to the practice field to do individual work during fall camp, but as of Monday he had yet to take part in team activities during practice.

“I think it’s all about how ready he is to go play,” Heupel said. “There’s a lot of things that come into play. You look at the position he plays, all the reactionary work you have to do so that you always keep a balance between his ability to be prepared and his health in the short and long term.”