Trey Smith Says He is Not Playing Up to His Own Standard, Yet to Scratch Surface of His Potential

Trey Smith Says He is Not Playing Up to His Own Standard, Yet to Scratch Surface of His Potential

Trey Smith has been one of the constants in terms of productions for Tennessee's football team over the last three years. Smith has battled through more adversity than most any player in college football, but according to him, he has not played close to his potential or expected standard in 2020.

During a Zoom call on Monday, Smith told the media, "I don't think I've played that well in terms of playing up to my abilities. I don't feel like I've really scratched the surface of it yet, which is frustrating. There are a lot of things that I can do better, but like I said the game isn't based on sympathy. You have to bring it every week. At the end of the day, I have to bring it every week and step my game up every week, which I feel like I've progressed in. To be where I want to be, I still have a ways to go."

It is all about playing at a certain standard for Smith, and he briefly talked about what that standard is.

Smith said, "For me, there's just a certain standard that I want to play at, there's a certain way I want to play, there’s a certain amount of times I want to get pancake blocks or finish someone through the block or be the most violent guy on the field."

Smith has battled through injury this season, and he said on the importance of the open week, "Your open week is really important not only for team development, but also for recovery. As a player, it's a great opportunity if you are banged up and bruised up to get that proper rest and time you need off. Anything that can make the team healthy, it helps us a lot."

Smith and the Volunteers will travel to Arkansas for a 7:30 p.m. ET kick-off on the SEC Network this Saturday.