Josh Heupel updates the injury status of Tennessee wide receiver Squirrel White
When Josh Heupel was asked Wednesday about the health of Tennessee wide receiver Squirrel White, the head coach told reporters to wait until next week.
“You guys can look forward to the injury report next Wednesday or something like that,” Heupel said during his National Signing Day press conference.
There’s only one problem. There won’t be a Tennessee injury report issued next week. The SEC-mandated availability reports are released only during the week of conference games.
The Vols (10-2), who were ranked No. 7 in the College Football Playoff Top 25 on Tuesday and seeded ninth in the 12-team playoff bracket, are now off until the first round of the playoffs.
Squirrel White’s left arm was in a sling after Vanderbilt game
White had his left arm in a sling after the 36-23 win at Vanderbilt Saturday afternoon, after getting hurt late in the game.
“You got some time here,” Heupel said, “but feel (I) like we’re going to have everybody getting ready to roll here.”
The first College Football Playoff game in the 12-team playoff era will be on Friday, December 20. The other three games in the first round will be played in a triple header Saturday, December 21.
White this season has 33 catches for 364 yards and two touchdowns. He didn’t record a catch in the Vanderbilt game, but over the previous three weeks had caught 11 passes for 123 yards and the two touchdowns in games against Mississippi State, Georgia and UTEP.
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White combined for five catches for 100 yards over the first three games of the season, in wins against Chattanooga, NC State and Kent State, and had three catches for 13 yards at Oklahoma.
He had seven catches for 38 at Arkansas and had five catches for 71 yards against Florida.
White didn’t record a catch in the win over Alabama after having to leave the game early after landing hard on his right shoulder, which he initially injured at Arkansas. This time it was White’s left arm that was in a sling as he left the field after the Vanderbilt game.
Multiple Vols injured in win at Vanderbilt last week
Tennessee also lost wide receiver Dont’e Thornton and freshman running back Peyton Lewis in the second half at Vanderbilt, with both sidelined by what the Vols described as upper-body injuries. Fifth-year senior wide receiver Bru McCoy didn’t play after a hamstring issue flared up during pregame.
Tennessee on Tuesday night was projected to go to Ohio State in the first round of the playoffs, based on the updated CFP Top 25.
The official bracket will be set Sunday and will be announced at Noon Eastern Time on ESPN.
“Listen, we control what we control, right?” Heupel said on Wednesday. “We don’t have a game before the final rankings come out. There’s a lot of football to be played yet. But if you’re not of the mindset going into this thing, anyone, anywhere, anytime, then you’re just there to have a cup of coffee anyway.
“This is a highly-competitive group. We’ll play where we play. We’ll play who we play. Let’s go put the ball down.”
