Heupel Provides Update on Vols Injury Situation Following Akron

A hush fell over Neyland Stadium after Cedric Tillman jumped up to grab a pass in the second quarter and a submarine tackle to his knee thrust it inward and left him on the turf. 

Before Josh Heupel made it to Tillman, who was on the ground for a few moments, the star receiver was able to get up and walked off on his own power.

Tillman went to the medical tent, and upon exiting stated, “I am good.” 

However, he did not return to the contest as the Vols training staff continued to evaluate him over the course of the night. 

Tennessee came into the contest with a relatively clean bill of health. Starting corner Warren Burrell was ruled out in pregame, and just two plays into the game, starting running back Jabari Small exited with an apparent upper body injury. 

Following the win, Josh Heupel provided a brief update on them. 

“Don’t know yet, at this point, but we’re hopeful,” Heupel said on Tillman late Saturday night. “Jabari (Small), same thing. We held them (out) from that point on in the football game, just because of the scoreboard and to get those guys some treatment. Dee  and Warren (Burrell), we were optimistic, but didn’t feel like we could play them. Let me take that back. Didn’t feel like it was the right thing to do to play them in this one. So we’re optimistic and hopeful for the next one.”

Tillman’s injury certainly appeared to be the one with the potential to be the most serious in real time, but his teammates seemed to have the same hopefulness around it that Josh Heupel did.

“I hadn’t talked to him, but like I said, we have one of the best training staffs in the country, and Ced’s a tough guy,” Jalin Hyatt told reporters on Saturday night. “I don’t know what the injury is, hadn’t heard anything. I’ll talk to him, probably after this, but I hope he’s OK. I think he will be OK. But like I said, I hadn’t talked to him yet.”

For Vols QB Hendon Hooker, he saw his top target over the last year injured, but viewed the fact Tillman walked off on his own as a good sign.

I was just hoping that he was okay,” Hooker said when meeting the media. “Seeing him walk off on his own power is a great sign. He’s a little banged up, but he’s a fighter and a warrior, so even if he’s banged up, he’s still going to do what he does and try to push through it.”

Tillman finished the night with 2 catches for 16 yards, but his statline is not what matters for the Vols at this point. Tennessee will host a ranked Florida inside of Neyland Stadium next weekend and will hope to have their top target for the matchup., But even if they have to exercise caution, as long as the injury isn’t season-ending, the Vols will likely do what they need to, even if it means him  missing the Florida game, to have Tillman for the bulk of conference play.

However, much like the optimism his coach and teammates displayed on Saturday night, we have heard similar optimism continue, which is a good sign.