Jones Press Conference Kicks Off Vols' Preseason

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Coach Butch Jones held his preseason football press conference on Monday at Neyland Stadium.

Jones heads into his third season with visible enthusiasm after the Vols finished off the 2014 season with an impressive win over Iowa in the TaxSlayer Bowl, following that up with another nationally ranked recruiting class.

"In terms of our football team, we are very excited to get started,” Jones said.

"This is the exciting time. Everything that goes into building a football team really starts in training camp because now your entire team is here. For us, we were setback a little bit with the 13 individuals being held out of spring football. We will be excited to get them back. They will have to play catch up, so to speak, not just physically but mentally as well.”

Jones addressed his team’s injury situation and then took questions.

"In terms of injuries, LaTroy Lewis had his knee scoped, and that went exceptionally well,” Jones said. “He could be out two weeks or three weeks. We fully anticipate him being available for the Bowling Green game, but he will miss the start of camp. Max Arnold will miss the start of camp. Andrew Butcher will miss the start of camp as well. We have no time frame for Arnold or Butcher on their returns. Austin Sanders will be limited.

“Preston Williams will not practice, as we await NCAA certification on him. That will be an ongoing process with the NCAA, so I have no timeframe for him in terms of practice.

"Another individual that I would ask that Vol Nation and everyone still keep in their prayers is Zach Stewart and his family, as they go through something that's very, very challenging. Zach will be delaying his enrollment, so he won't be available for the start of camp, but we will welcome him when he feels he's ready to come back.”

(On Von Pearson's status)
"Same status, nothing has changed in regards to Von."

(On number two quarterback)
"It's imperative. And as we found out, you can never have one quarterback or two quarterbacks, you have to have as many as possible to compete at this level, so again the repetitions will be at a premium. Jauan Jennings is going to start off gaining valuable repetitions at the wide receiver position. We'll continue to move him around, he'll still get some repetitions at quarterback. I think Quinten Dormady has had a very productive summer. Obviously the reps that he gained in the spring were extremely invaluable, but we have to give them a number of opportunities to be able to provide confidence that and see what they can do, but I'm excited about Quinten and I'm excited about Sheriron (Jones) as well."

(On Malik Foreman)
"Malik Foreman will start off at the defensive back position, and then he'll be evaluated each and every day just like all of our DBs and our wide receivers, and then whatever he can do that best fits him, but also helps our football team win, and that'll be an ongoing decision. And to Malik's credit, we met yesterday, and he said `Coach I'll do whatever it takes to help the team win', and that's kind of the mentality I like to see on this football team."

(On Charles Mosley's status)
"He's on the team and discipline will be done internally."

(On candidates for middle linebacker)
"That is a position that obviously is going to be extremely competitive. You look at a number of individuals that are vying for that with Kenny Bynum, Colton Jumper, Darrin Kirkland Jr., Gavin Bryant, Dillon Bates, Jakob Johnson we get back from injury who had some valuable repetitions there. So, just like John (Brice) brought up the number two quarterback, it's also solidifying who are Mike linebacker is going to be, and also are backups at that spot as well."

(On deciding early enrollees)
"We let them decide on their own. It's kind of changing landscape of college football, is the early enrollment and it started off our first year at Central Michigan I believe we had four. I think it takes a different type of person. We've led the country in early enrollees the last two years, I believe we've had 23 or 24 combined. I think it takes a special person, I believe they have to have a high level of maturity, because when you look at it. All their friends are in high school, and they're in college, and they're in a very structured program, they're in college courses, they're in a program like this with a lot of high demands in terms of time management, but also, you need to have the resources in the program in place for those individuals to be successful. This year's class had a 3.0 (GPA) overall in their first semester of college courses and we have a program in place with the Thornton Center, with the coaches, with the mentoring and the monitoring of their progress."

(On comfort level with expectations within the program and what he has seen from Curt Maggitt and Joshua Dobbs from a leadership perspective)
"A strong level of confidence going out on the practice field. From our hideaway to we just finished an organizational meeting right now on the structure of practice. The capacity for work, the work volume, the expectations, how we run the minute we hit the field, where they stretch. That's all in place and it's very comforting.

"In terms of Joshua Dobbs and Curt Maggitt, their leadership continues to be born. That's part of our welfare and development program, something we take very seriously here. And we spend an inordinate amount of time on leadership. It's also creating leadership opportunities for them. Last night was a leadership opportunity, not just for those two, but for everyone on our football program, particularly for our players staff. I see those two continuing to grow in terms of leadership.

"All leadership is influence. And that's why there are good leaders, and that's why there is poor leaders."

(On toughness in practice)
"Great question. It's kind of like the age-old question on development. I'll give you the analogy: it's like getting in the pool. You've got to get in the deep end of the pool to learn how to swim. And so usually your toughness is born in the weight room. Part of it is on the field of play in spring ball. That's why having those 13 individuals miss kind of set back our growth and development as a football program, but you have to pick your spots. You can still be physical in a controlled environment, whether it's individual drills, whether its 9-on-7 drills or pods of 3-on-3, or 1-on-1s. That's something that we take pride in. You know in this conference, it's a line-of-scrimmage league. Your toughness is challenged on each and every snap.”

(On Coleman Thomas)
"He'll be one of those individuals that's going to be going through the evaluation of being in the top five. So Coleman will play center, but he'll also get reps at tackle as well. And that is another individual who has benefited from the repetitions he gained last year. And he has to become a wiser football player, which he has, but we'll move him around to find the best spot in which he can help this football team win."

(On Ralph David Abernathy IV)
"Well, we'll know a little bit more tomorrow, and really you'll know more when the pads come on. It's great to go out there and run around in helmets, but football is a game that is played in pads. But it's a great foundation, a great starting point with the first two days in helmets then graduating into shells, and then getting to day five in pads. But, Ralph is an individual who knows our scheme. He understands the standards, the expectations. But what he does is he brings depth, he brings knowledge and experience as well."

(On position changes)
"Right now I would say it's just Malik [Foreman]. We're pretty settled in at the position groups. Now, if you have some catastrophic rash of injuries you find yourself looking around. But for the most part, I think our football team is pretty settled in terms of what position they will be lining up. I would say Malik Foreman is the only question mark right now. And I told Malik that's it's a compliment to him. That young man has come a long way from his first year as a freshman and now he's looked in the eyes of both sides of the ball that he can help us and I think it's a tribute to his work ethic and the way he's matured as a young man in our football program."

(On the health of Trevarris Saulsberry)
"Trevarris is going to be touch and go. He's nowhere near 100-percent and it's going to be what his body can handle. We'll know more when training camp hits [if] can he handle the daily grind."

(On the 13 players coming back from injury)
"They've all been cleared to practice. Yes, they are on a maintenance program. One individual's ahead of the other, but they'll all be out there, day one, practicing. They'll be managed day-to-day. We have to do a great job, which we will, of really managing their workload, really understanding where their bodies are. A lot of times with the excitement, you overdo it your first couple days of practice. That's why we've really structured and laid out the practices that we build up and we work to get that one percent better."

(On the realistic expectations for Shy Tuttle and Kahlil McKenzie during camp)
"Well, we'll see. Obviously, we know a little bit more about Shy, just from having him in spring football. Kahlil has done everything that we've asked of him in the summer months. Now, we need to take the weight room and apply it to the practice field. We'll know a little bit more as camp continues to progress."

(On the concern of the depth at the receiver position)
"That's one of the areas we're concerned with. That's why, not only with those two, but Jason Croom [and] Josh Smith, we have to do a great job of really managing them, and making sure that they don't do too much early. Both of those individuals are very prideful. They're going to want to compete in every single period and go there, and we have to do a great job as coaches, which we will, of managing them. That's why Jauan Jennings comes into play, and that's why Malik Foreman is still in the consideration for playing that position as well."

(On the comfort and confidence level among the offensive backfield positions going into camp)
"[We're] excited to see again the maturation of the running back group. Jalen Hurd has had a very good offseason, he's about 242 pounds right now. He's really developed into a leader. Alvin Kamara continues to impress [with] the way he's changed his body. Those two kind of feed off of each other. Alvin is another individual who's really elevated his game in terms of leadership with this football team. I'm excited to see what John Kelly can do. So again, you add Ralph David [Abernathy] to the mix, you addJoe Young to the mix, so I think we've really helped ourselves in terms of quality depth there, but [we're] excited to get them on the field and see what they can continue to do."

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)