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Joe Milton downplays pressure of being Tennessee’s starting quarterback

Alex Weberby:Alex Weber•06/23/23
Tennessee's Joe Milton III and Jabari Small celebrate a touchdown at Vanderbilt (Tennessee Athletics)
Tennessee's Joe Milton III and Jabari Small (Tennessee Athletics)

Hendon Hooker is now a figure of the Tennessee football past as he’s off to the NFL while his old backup Joe Milton is in line to start for the Vols in his final collegiate season. It’ll be year six at the college level for Milton and his third at Tennessee after he spent the first three at Michigan, and it’s an action-packed six years.

He was no bench-warmer for his first five years and even started games for UM and UT in 2020 and 2021 before settling in behind Hooker. At this week’s Manning Passing Academy, which is being held at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA, he explained that this year is just like any other, despite his higher profile as the projected starter.

Now, it’s his second rodeo coming into a season penciled in as the Tennessee starter. Back in 2021, he beat out Hooker for the job but was injured early in the year, allowing the Virginia Tech transfer to take the job for good for that season and the next. For Joe Milton, it was just another bump in a long and winding career. He says himself he’s not as worried about how things play out and is just preparing for this season like any other.

“It’s another opportunity. I don’t look at it no differently. You know, it’s just another opportunity, just another game. I mean, you do what you gotta do to win,” he said of the pressure he faces.

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“I didn’t when I was younger at first. Like, my first few years at Michigan, I did not view it that way. I just wanted to be the best version of Joe,” Milton added, explaining how he’s matured throughout his career.

“But now, kinda like, as you get older, you kind of see the whole aspect of the game, and see how life works and you see how things can come by and go. So, you know, however you treat it, I treat it a little bit different. You know, it has more meaning now. Not because it’s my last year, just because guys want it more. I see it in their eyes, like, they’re dedicated. So why not give my all.”

Tennessee fans can be assured they’ll get Joe Milton’s best stuff this fall as he gives the starting QB job another try.

The Bengal Tiger’s Shea Dixon contributed to this article