Vols focused on themselves and growth during second bye week
Tennessee was back to work on Wednesday as Josh Heupel’s team rolls through their second open date of the year before hosting Kentucky a week from Saturday.
Tennessee obviously didn’t play well coming out of the first open date and the focus this week according to receiver Bru McCoy is to be more intentional about everything.
“I would say it’s encouraging just because you know you can make plays and you look after the game at what made things not tick and how close you are,” McCoy said. “We are one little thing away which is why it’s important this week to focus on the details and be intentional with whatever we are working on.”
Tennessee’s offensive line was more productive in the win over Alabama and senior Cooper Mays is playing his best football. For Mays and the rest of the guys in the trench, this week is about investment.
“Attention to details, being focused on whatever we are doing, what ever the task at hand is and making sure we are fully invested on each rep to do it the right way,” Mays said. “I think it’s been great (to start the week).”
Defensively, the Vols are rolling and playing at an elite level. Tennessee is a top 5 nationally ranked defense across the board. They have yet to give up 20 points in a game and have limited explosive plays. Defensive lineman Dominic Bailey was extremely productive on Saturday in the win. Bailey said the defensive focus is on continued growth.
“Just staying locked in on the main goal,” Bailey said. “This week is more about us focusing on us and getting better because there’s still a lot of things we can work on and get better at. Just the little details. The small things that can make or break a game.”
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In Saturday’s win, Jeremiah Telander saw an increased roll with the loss of Keenan Pili. Telander and Arion Carter handled the in helmet communications and Telander had an increased vocal role. It’s a job, Telander said comes nature to him, but requires plenty of work.
“It fits who I am, but you have to prepare for that to know the correct things to say and when to say them,” Telander said. “In the heat of the battle, every thing happened at a fast pace so you have to know that check or anticipate what is going to happen before it happens so we just continue to work on communicating.”
Continued to improve in communication is one of the keys for Telander and the defense this week as the Vols look to take advantage of the open date to grow.
“It’s still us versus us,” Telander said. “We have to continue to practice like we have a game this Saturday. We have to communicate that throughout the entire time. We have to show up every day and prepare to play like we did on Saturday.
Tennessee will practice again on Thursday before taking the weekend off.
