Jaylen McCollough process is 'still going on,' per Josh Heupel

Tennessee safety Jaylen McCollough was arrested and charged with aggravated assault on Sunday, October 9 the day after Tennessee’s road win over LSU. McCollough has maintained ‘complete innocence’ regarding the arrest, but was not available for the team’s latest game against Alabama where they secured a 52-49 upset victory. Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel gave an update on McCollough’s playing status ahead of their next game against Tennessee-Martin.

“Jalen’s process is still going on, we’ll see where we’re at here at the end of the week,” Heupel said.

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Heupel revealed earlier in the week that McCollough not playing in the Volunteer’s last game was not a result of a suspension, and that he has been around the team this past week. McCollough’s missed game against the Crimson Tide was the first of his career, as he has played in all 40 games dating back to his freshman season at Tennessee in 2019.

McCollough recorded 23 tackles this season for the Volunteers this season prior to missing the Alabama game, and is two tackles shy of reaching 150 in his career for Tennessee. He is a four-year starter for a secondary that gave up 455 yards in the air to Alabama in their last outing without him, and a valuable piece to their defense. Heupel seems optimistic that he will make a return soon for the Vols, but time will tell if Tennessee will get their veteran safety back this season.

Josh Heupel says Jaylen McCollough not suspended, will return soon

The availability of Jaylen McCollough was a major story heading into Tennessee’s game versus Alabama over the weekend. After the Volunteer’s win over LSU, McCollough was arrested on a felony assault charge. He was unavailable for Tennessee’s win over the Tide but, according to Josh Heupel, the program expects to have their starting safety back soon.

Heupel updated the media on McCollough during his press conference on Monday. He says he has not been formally suspended and that the Volunteers hope to have him back playing in the near future.

“He’s not suspended. He’s been around. Just wasn’t available for Saturday,” said Heupel. “(The) process is still going on with him. We’ll see how that continues to play out here. (We) look forward to having him available soon.”

McCollough, a senior in the Tennessee program, is fifth on the team in total tackles this season with 23. Over his career, he has 148 tackles, nine pass deflections, two sacks, a forced fumble, and three interceptions. The Vols were able to get the massive win without him but, now that this game is behind them, they want to get McCollough back as soon as possible.

As of now, they’re still allowing the process to play out when it comes to McCollough’s incident. Still, it sounds like there’s optimism he will be back in the fold soon per Heupel.

On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this report