Report: Tennessee wide receiver Cedric Tillman recovering from 'tightrope' ankle surgery

Losing Cedric Tillman was quite a blow for Tennessee heading into last week’s matchup against Florida. But ahead a bye week, Tillman took a big step to try and speed up his return.

Tillman underwent “tightrope” ankle surgery last week to avoid missing more time, ESPN’s Chris Low reported. It’s the same type of procedure Tua Tagovailoa underwent twice while he was at Alabama. The first time, Tagovailoa returned in 28 days, and he came within three weeks of the second surgery.

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Tillman suffered the injury in Tennessee’s victory over Akron Sept. 17 and missed the Volunteers’ thrilling victory over Florida at Neyland Stadium last week. In three games this season, he has 17 receptions for 246 yards and a touchdown to his name one year after totaling more than 1,000 yards. He decided to forego the NFL Draft and return for one more go-round with the Vols and quarterback Hendon Hooker.

Tennessee moved up to No. 8 in the latest AP Top 25 following the win over Florida heading into the bye week. The Vols are now gearing up to take on LSU next week, and Josh Heupel didn’t have much of an update on Tillman’s availability for the game on Wednesday. However, he wasn’t asked about the operation.

“Obviously, we’re a long way away from game time,” Heupel said, via Low. “We’re hopeful that he will continue to make progress and be available when we go down there.”

Josh Heupel believes Hendon Hooker still has room for growth

As crazy as it sounds, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel believes Hendon Hooker can get even better. In a press conference Wednesday, Heupel stated that while he is proud of the way the Volunteers quarterback has performed, they both have their sights set even higher.

“There’s still room for him to grow,” Heupel said. “He would say the same thing. But it’s awesome that we can see the growth in him and you guys can see it too.

“This game is really hard. Playing that position, it’s really hard the decisions you’ve got to make. The ability to do that in the run and the pass game with the way he’s using his feet, sometimes it looks easy because they’re playing at a really high level. It’s not easy. He’s just in so much command of what we’re doing. He understands the why behind everything, and that’s a big part of it.”