Pruitt Updates Vols Sunday Scrimmage Efforts, Which QB Took All of The Snaps, and the Return of a Freshman DB

Pruitt Updates Vols Sunday Scrimmage Efforts, Which QB Took All of The Snaps, and the Return of a Freshman DB

Last week, Jeremy Pruitt said, "Sunday night, we are going to have a big scrimmage for the guys who aren't playing a huge role on our team right now. There's a lot of these guys that are plenty capable and based off circumstances, whether they were out for fall camp, they were injured or maybe they were just in quarantine and we had such small numbers that we didn't get a chance at that time to practice threes and fours, and maybe it didn't give them the opportunity. A lot of these guys are ready, and we need to get them out there and play some ball and we are going to do that on Sunday night when we get back."

That scrimmage still happened following Tennessee's 44-21 defeat at the hands of Georgia.

One key piece of news for the Vols was the 2020 signee, Tamarion McDonald, was back in action for the event. He had previously been sidelined with a shoulder injury that required off-season surgery.

At the first of the year, Pruitt said, " One thing that I want to update everybody on is Tamarion McDonald. He had shoulder surgery this summer, and we elected to do that so that he would be ready when we started in the winter time, so we went ahead and got that done for him. With the uncertainty at that point and time during the pandemic we felt like that was the best thing to do so we went ahead and did that. So, he's a guy that will definitely be redshirting this season."

Pruitt noted that McDonald was "one of the bright spots" of the event.

Elsewhere, Harrison Bailey got a real opportunity to show what he can do for the Volunteers.

"It was really good. I think we took 49 snaps, and Harrison took every one of them. In fall camp, he didn’t get a lot of live action. It was good for him, good for a lot of players," Pruitt told local reporters during Monday's Zoom Call.

Sources have indicated to VR2 on SI that not only did Bailey take all of the snaps, but he had a solid showing on Sunday night. There were some inconsistencies at times, but he shined, for the most part, making the best of his opportunity.

This does not mean that Bailey will start this weekend or anytime soon, but it does show that Tennessee is doing all it can to progress him to where he needs to be if called upon to contribute. Bailey is the highest-rated quarterback to sign with the Vols in a decade, and he should make an impact on Rocky Top sooner than later.

Pruitt did note about the quarterback situation, "Jarrett’s our quarterback. He gives us the best opportunity to have success. Offensively, our struggles Saturday were not because of one independent person.”