Jeremy Pruitt Updates Status of DB's Shamburger, Thompson Ahead of Georgia

Tennessee has been shorthanded on the back end of their defense to start the season. Bryce Thompson was a limited participant in this past Saturday's contest, while Shawn Shamburger, a regular fixture at the star/nickel position, has not yet taken the field for Tennessee this fall. It has been unclear why Shamburger has missed time, but Bryce Thompson's was due to a shoulder injury suffered on Thursday of last week. Today, Jeremy Pruitt updated the status of the Vols secondary.

Pruitt said on Shamburger during today's SEC teleconference, "Yeah, Shamburger will play Saturday."

He added on Thompson, "He is fine." Pruitt had mentioned on Monda if Tennessee was playing then, that Thompson would be able to play.

Pruitt's staff recruits versatility, which has allowed them to play a variety of guys across the secondary. He said on how many defensive backs they have that could play the star position, "we teach things by concept. We have a lot of guys in our programs, and they learn multiple positions, whether its a safety learning (to play) Star or Money, or its 's a corner learning to play Star or Money. We have very few guys that play just one position. No.1, it helps them create value for themselves. Two, it helps us to play who we feel like is the next best guy."

Tennessee and Georgia are set to kickoff at 3:30 PM ET on Saturday on CBS. The Vols will look to extend their eight-game winning streak and snap a three-game losing skid to Georgia in the process.

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