Receiver Braylon Staley Leaves Game Early with Apparent Upper-Body Injury

Redshirt freshman receiver Braylon Staley leaves conference game against Arkansas early with an apparent upper body injury and misses remainder of game.

Oct 11, 2025; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Braylon Staley (14) celebrates a catch against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the first half at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images | Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Redshirt freshman wide receiver Braylon Staley was forced to leave the game against Arkansas tonight due to a injury during the fourth quarter and he missed the remainder of the matchup.

He came up grabbing his upper half with what appeared to be an upper-body injury that cost him the rest of the contested conference game.

At the time of his exodus, the Tennessee Volunteers were ahead and looking to close out the victory inside Neyland Stadium in a revenge matchup against a Razorbacks team that looks a bit different with Bobby Petrino taking over at the helm as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

His status for the road matchup next week at Alabama is unclear at the present moment and will be something to monitor throughout the next week of practice.

Tennessee wide receiver Braylon Staley (14) dodges Arkansas defensive back Kani Walker (13) during a college football game between Tennessee and Arkansas at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee on Oct. 11, 2025. | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

He was a very vital part of the offense against the Razorbacks this evening, finishing with six catches for 109 yards including several big receptions.

Offensive coordinator Joey Halzle has benefited greatly from the catches in crucial situations by Staley and he was able to kickstart the momentum in this game with a strong amount of success early in the game.

Nearly all of that production came in the first half of the ball game where Joey Aguilar settled into the game and the offense was able to move the ball down the field with ease.

Braylon Staley's first half:

• 5 catches
• 105 yards pic.twitter.com/Snj73gozRX

— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) October 11, 2025

Staley has been an essential part of the offense, providing a consistent reliable target at every level of the field for his quarterback, especially over the middle of the field.

With true freshman Travis Smith Jr. and Radarious Jackson held out of this home SEC game, the receiver room is already depleted leading into the massive matchup next week against the Crimson Tide, in which Staley is a player that could be crucial to potentially winning.

His absence left very little experience in the position room for Kelsey Pope to work with during today's game, but it proved not to be costly with the game already in the final quadrant.

As mentioned earlier, the potential loss of Staley would be a significant hit to the offensive unit moving forward, especially with a strong slate of conference games remaining, beginning with a rivalry matchup.

As more details come in from head coach Josh Heupel and others tonight and throughout next week, Vols on SI will continue to provide timely updates in this important situation.

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