Nico Iamaleava rejoins Tennessee practices after missing time due to illness
Nico Iamaleava has rejoined his Tennessee Football teammates after missing recent practice time due to a stomach bug, head coach Josh Heupel said during his press conference on Monday. Iamaleava did not play in the closed scrimmage on Thursday at Neyland Stadium.
“He’s fine,” Heupel said during his weekly press conference on Monday. “(He) had a stomach bug and has been out on the field with us the last couple days. He’s great.”
Iamaleava this season steps into the starting quarterback position, replacing Joe Milton III. Redshirt senior Gaston Moore and freshman Jake Merklinger are backing up Iamaleava.
Nico Iamaleava in five games last season: 28-45, 314 passing yards, 2 TDs, 71 rushing yards, 3 rushing TDs
Iamaleava appeared in five games as a freshman last season and made his first career start in the Citrus Bowl against Iowa, combining for 178 total yards and four total touchdowns.
He finished the season 28-for-45 passing for 314 yards and two touchdowns. He ran 20 times for 71 yards, with the three rushing touchdowns in the bowl game.
Iamaleava was ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in the On3 ratings in 2023, picking Tennessee over Miami, Alabama, Georgia and others while headlining Tennessee’s recruiting class.
Iamaleava played in Tennessee’s first scrimmage of the preseason, held at Neyland Stadium on August 9.
“I thought he looked good throughout the course of the night,” Heupel said at the time. “Just decision making, body position. There is going to be some throws that he is going want back, but he played really well.”
Season Opener: No. 15 Tennessee vs. Chattanooga, August 31, 12:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network
Heupel was asked after Thursday’s closed scrimmage, the second of fall camp, about the importance of scrimmage reps for quarterbacks during fall camp.
“For all of your quarterbacks, the green dot communication is different,” Heupel said, referencing the new in-helmet communication in college football this season. ” Situational football, being able to reset, play to play, we try to simulate a lot of those situations during the course of practice, but there’s nothing like scrimmage to get you as close as you can be to what game day is going to be like.
“So in general I thought the quarterbacks handled themselves really well (in Thursday’s scrimmage). And, just again, situational football being backed up, coming off the goal line, your thought processes, all those things.”
Heupel last week updated the progress of Moore and Merklinger as Tennessee’s backup quarterback options.
“Merk is a young guy (who) continues to get better every single day,” Heupel said. “He’s great. He has great confidence. He works extremely hard at it. He’s got a really good energy in the huddle. His demeanor is really positive.
“Gaston just did a really efficient job (in the first scrimmage),” Heupel added. “Made some really nice throws out on the run. He’s done that all training camp. He’s taken pretty good care of the football throughout the course of training camp too, so I’m pleased with the development of those guys.”
