Josh Heupel confirms Jabari Small is 'ready to go'

Tennessee fans held their collective breath when running back Jabari Small hurt his shoulder against Georgia last weekend, but Josh Heupel has provided a positive update on Thursday.

According to Heupel, the Volunteers ball carrier is “ready to go” moving forward for their offense.

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“Jabari’s been with us all week,” stated Heupel. “He’ll be ready to go.”

Small is a key piece of the high-powered Tennessee offense, and entered last Saturday’s showdown ranking second on the Volunteers with 475 rushing yards to go with a team-high eight touchdowns. He had one carry for three yards at the time of the injury.

Luckily, it seems as if the Voluteers avoided disaster with Jabari Small, and the electric running back will be ready for their attempt to make the College Football Playoff over the remainder of the season.

Josh Heupel discusses Tennessee’s approach to playoff discussion

A lot can change in a week. Tennessee was the No. 1 team in the initial College Football Playoff rankings for the 2022 season. After their loss to Georgia this weekend, though, the Volunteers may be on the outside looking in on the first update to the standings that will come this week. Even after all that, Josh Heupel reiterated on Monday that Tennessee’s approach hasn’t changed at all.

Heupel talked about the program’s postseason focus during his this week’s press conference. He said a lot can still change with a month left to play in the season. With that said, all the Vols can do is play their best to end the year and let the chips fall where they may when it comes to the postseason.

“There’s a whole month of football (left). There’s a lot of football left to be played by everybody in the country,” said Heupel. “Up until this point, we’ve done a lot of things right…There’s nothing that we can control other than who we are, how we approach it, (and) how we go play and compete.”

“At the end of the day, it’s about trying to find a way to be the best team on the field during the 60 minutes. That’s all we’re concerned about.”

Alas, none of this matters if Heupel and the Vols don’t handle business to end their season. That’s why their focus needs to be in the right place which, as of this week, should be Missouri. If they do that, the puzzle pieces may still fall into place for Tennessee to make the CFP, even without the 2022 SEC Title.