Pruitt: Vols Tight End Austin Pope Could be Ready to Go for Season-Opener

Tennessee tight end Austin Pope suffered from a herniated disc in his back earlier this offseason and underwent surgery to correct the problem in July. The loss of Pope was a monumental one for the Volunteers, and many speculated that redshirt freshman Jackson Lowe or Sean Brown would be forced into the spotlight to replace the redshirt senior.

However, according to Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt, Pope has made major progress and has the potential to complete his recovery in time for Tennessee’s season-opener against South Carolina on September 26th. Pruitt also revealed that Pope has already returned to practice and has been doing fairly well. “He’s been out there everyday,” said Pruitt. “He continues to improve, and if he continues to improve like he has the last five weeks, he should be ready by the opener.”

Pope has been an elite run blocker for the Vols throughout his career, which is often a thankless job at the tight end position. He will almost certainly replace Dominick Wood-Anderson as the starter at the position, and will have to take a big step forward in order to fill Wood-Anderson’s shoes.

“Sometimes life doesn’t always go the way we plan it,” wrote the senior when he first announced the surgery. “I’ve had hard times and challenges in my life, so this is nothing new to me. I recently have been dealing with a lot of nerve pain coming from my lower back. I went to get an MRI on Monday morning, and the results were not what I expected.”

“(The Doctor) told me I herniated another disc in my back, this time at L3-L4,” explained Pope. “I’ve been very down and disappointed because I already had back surgery two years ago for a different disc. I had surgery this morning and am recovering from home right now. I really would appreciate any support in these tough times. I love this game, my teammates, and my coaches, and I will do anything to help this program succeed. Prayers would be appreciated.”

The Vols’ season-opener will come against South Carolina on September 26th in Williams-Brice Stadium. Having Pope as an option would certainly be a big advantage for Tennessee, but he will have to continue to recover before he is officially cleared to play.

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