The Florida defense swarms atop Tennessee's Jalen Hurd (1) in first half action at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014.KNOXVILLE -- Jalen Hurd spent parts of the second half of Tennessee's loss to Florida on Saturday on the sideline as trainers attended to his shoulder, but the freshman may not be shelved for long.
The Volunteers may elect to play it safe with their top tailback, though.
Amid speculation that Hurd could miss some time with a shoulder sprain, Tennessee coach Butch Jones said at his weekly news conference Monday that the Vols believe he can play Saturday against UT-Chattanooga.
"We anticipate him being at practice today," Jones said. "He had a little bit of a shoulder ding in the game, but he went back in. He's received treatments, and we fully anticipate him being ready for Chattanooga. He'll be participating in practice today. He's cleared for practice, so he'll be fine.
"It's just kind of the wear and tear that goes on with shoulders of a running back that plays physical. No more, no less."
Hurd's injury is believed to a sprain to the AC joint in his left shoulder, which is not the one on which he had the surgery that ended his senior season at Beech High School last year.
Still, with Ole Miss, Alabama and South Carolina on the docket after the meeting with the Mocs, the Vols may elect to be careful with Hurd.
That could mean more opportunities for senior Marlin Lane, who has 33 fewer carries than Hurd this season, and a debut for freshman Derrell Scott, a former four-star recruit who has practiced for three weeks after a foot injury sidelined him.
"In this conference, you can't have one running back," Jones said. "You need to have four [and] Derrell Scott is an individual that continues to develop. You'll probably see more of him in practice and in the game on Saturday as well."
Stickin' to it
Jones made it clear Monday that Tennessee won't make any personnel changes to its struggling offensive line, which has allowed 14 sacks in the the last three games.
"With who? It is what it is," the coach said. "Those are the five that we have. Those are the five that we feel gives us the best opportunity on Saturdays, and we're sticking with those five."
Sophomore Dylan Wiesman, probably the next man in at center or guard, was unavailable for the Florida game with a shoulder injury suffered in practice last week, and it appears junior college transfer Dontavius Blair is redshirting.
Tennessee simply doesn't have many other options.
"We're down two full recruiting classes in the offensive line," Jones said. "That's just the realities of where we're at in our football program.
"Like I told you on Saturday, nothing's changed," he added. "I believe in them. Don Mahoney does a great job, and how far they've come from week one to now, if you watch the videotape, you'll see the development, but football comes down to one-on-one matchups.
"There's only so much you can do. Everyone thinks a play call is a magical cure. Everybody runs the same plays. It comes down to execution. It's one-on-one matchups."
More on the 'myth'
After answering another question about the zone-read option aspect of Tennessee's offense, Jones remains interested in a video session with the media that sheds more light into the subject.
"The most common used term in Knoxville is the 'zone-read,' but we just think we see the quarterback in the gun and he sticks the ball out and that's a zone read," he said. "We ran more gap schemes than we did zone-read schemes this past week of trying to give a double team at the point of attack, trying to get our tight ends involved in the run game.
"Schematically we're doing the right things. We need to continue to progress. We need to improve our tempo, but we're not just a zone-read football team. I think that's a myth. It just comes with people not really understanding run schemes and blocking schemes if you really watch it."
Status updates
Defensive tackle Jordan Williams "played his best football game to date," Jones said, despite playing through an ankle sprain. He, cornerback Michael Williams (head) and tight end Daniel Helm (ankle) are expected to practice this week.
Tennessee tidbits
The Tennessee-Ole Miss game in Oxford on Oct. 18 will kick off at 7 p.m. and be televised by either ESPN or ESPN2, the SEC announced Monday. ... Jones said Tennessee has had dialogue with the SEC officiating office regarding the play clock apparently expiring on Florida's game-winning field goal. "Not yet," he replied when asked if the Vols had gotten an explanation. ... The Vols carry a 14-game home winning streak, dating back to a loss to Oregon in 2010, against nonconference opponents into Saturday's visit from UTC.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.