Pruitt Sees 'Confidence and Command' from QB Bailey During Vols Open Week

Jarrett Guarantano left the Arkansas game during the third-quarter after hitting his head on the turf while leaping in the air to attempt to extend the play. A quarterback roulette ensued with Brian Maurer coming in for a few drives, followed by Harrison Bailey closing out the game. While Bailey's stat line did not reflect it, the Vols moved the ball with success during his stint. Following the game, Guarantano entered concussion protocol, and he was finally available to practice for the Vols last night. However, during his Monday press conference, Pruitt talked about the excitement with the younger guys at the position, and when asked, he offered up on where he saw Harrison Bailey grow the most.

To start the press conference, Pruitt said during his opening statement, "I thought Harrison Bailey had a really good week, (Brian) Maurer, and J.T. (Shrout)."

Later in the press conference, Pruitt was asked about Guarantano, and he said, "well, he practiced yesterday, but all of the other guys took a lot of reps over the last three practices, so we will see how the rest of the week goes here, but I was real excited about how these other guys continued to work, and I thought Jarrett had a real good day yesterday, to me it seems to be a little more confidence offensively, especially with our younger guys. Just having a better idea of how to execute at a higher level."

When asked specifically about where he saw Bailey grow, he said, " well, just command. You know, when you are comfortable with doing something, running an offense, you know, whatever it is, you have confidence, right? Your peers can see it. You can't fake confidence. It is either natural or it's not. So, that is not to take anything away from him, but the more you do something, the more comfortable you get at it, the better you feel, and the more confident you are. You can see that (with him). The simplicity of communicating the calls all the way across the board. You are talking about a young guy sitting here, and he has to tell Trey Smith which guy he is supposed to block on this run play here. 'The mike is 42 or whatever.' Just some of that. Nothing different you see out of any freshman. It is no different than Tamarion McDonald making all of the calls in the secondary. Or last year, Henry To'o To'o making all of the calls when Daniel Bituli was out having to be the quarterback of the defense. It is something the more you do it, the more you gain confidence. It is something everybody sees."

Bailey is 7 of 13 for 89 yards this season in two games of action. It is unclear if he will get more action against Auburn on Saturday, but he seems to be making things interesting in the Vols quarterback room, as he continues to get more reps.