Josh Heupel confirms injury for Tennessee linebacker Keenan Pili
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel on Wednesday confirmed that transfer linebacker Keenan Pili will be out for Saturday’s game against Austin Peay at Neyland Stadium. Heupel confirmed Volquest’s initial report during his appearance on the SEC Teleconference.
“We weren’t sure early in the week the severity of the injury,” Heupel said. “He will not be available this week. He’ll miss a couple weeks here.”
Heupel was then asked if it was a short-term injury or a long-term issue.
“I don’t believe it’s season ending at this point,” Heupel said. “We’ll see how he continues to heal up in the coming days and weeks.”
Brent Hubbs reported Wednesday morning that Pili will be out multiple weeks after sustaining an upper body injury in Tennessee’s 49-13 win over Virginia on Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
Keenan Pili had four tackles, played 30 snaps in win over Virginia
The Vols (1-0) host Austin Peay (0-1) on Saturday in the home opener at Neyland Stadium. The game is not on TV but can be streamed online through ESPN+ or SEC Network+. Tennessee opens SEC play at Florida on September 16, a 7 p.m. ET start on ESPN at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville.
Pili finished Saturday’s game against Virginia with four tackles, including two solo tackles. He earned a game ball after the win, after playing 30 snaps, fourth most on the team. His 80.0 grade from Pro Football Focus was also fourth highest for the Vols in Week 1.
The 6-foot-3, 233-pound Pili spent the last four years at BYU. He had 191 tackles in 34 career games at BYU, including 62 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 sacks in 12 games last season. He had 13.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks during his time with the Cougars.
Pili, a native of Provo, Utah, was a three-star prospect in the 2016 recruiting cycle out of Timpview High School. He was ranked No. 107 among linebackers in the class and No. 12 overall in the state of Utah.
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Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks during his press conference on Tuesday was asked what Pili did against Virginia to earn a game ball from his coaches. He said it was more of a reflection of who Pili has been since he got to Knoxville.
“Just everything that he brought to practice since he’s been here,” Banks said. “Just great leadership, communication, which was talked about earlier.”
Pili was one of the biggest surprises of the offseason, adding a veteran presence, size and athleticism to Tennessee’s linebacker room.
“Just having the ability to command the defense,” Banks said on Tuesday. “Making sure the front is where needs to be, communicating with (Aaron) Beasly. Making sure everybody’s where they need to be at all times is the number one thing. And just his overall physicality with the size that he has.
“You want big guys, but obviously in this day and age you have to be able to function in space and he’s able to do those things for us, so we’re very pleased with what he brought, just his overall toughness and smart and communication skills. We’re excited for him. We really are.”
