Tennessee tight end coach Larry ScottKNOXVILLE - Tennessee football coach Butch Jones said Monday that he has given no consideration to changing offensive coordinators as the Volunteers prepare to play at Kentucky on Saturday after having failed to score an offensive touchdown in 14 quarters.
"I see some progress, like I said," Jones said. "Unfortunately, don't see it on game day."
Hardly anything has gone according to plan for first-year offensive coordinator Larry Scott, who lost starting right tackle Chance Hall to injury before the season and lost leading returning receiver Jajuan Jennings to injury in the first half of the season opener.
Jones shared more bad news for the offense Monday when he said that junior guard Jack Jones' playing career is over due to recurring shoulder and neck injuries.
"After meeting with doctors, everyone felt that it was in his best interest that he no longer play football," Coach Jones said. "Obviously, we hurt for Jack and we hurt for his great family. We'll be there for support and he'll continue to be a member of this football team moving forward."
Losing Jack Jones is the latest blow for an offensive line that appeared to be deep and experienced entering the season but has struggled in recent weeks.
Hall, a junior, and freshman lineman K'Rojhn Calbert were lost before the season because of injuries. Redshirt sophomore offensive guard Venzell Boulware opted to leave the program early in the season.
Redshirt freshman Ryan Johnson was forced into the first significant action of his college career during Tennessee's 45-7 loss at Alabama last Saturday after left guard Jashon Robertson left the game with an injury in the second half. Coach Jones said Monday that Robertson is expected to be available this week when the Vols (3-4, 0-4 SEC) attempt to score an offensive touchdown for the first time in over a month against the Wildcats (5-2, 2-2).
Tennessee started its fifth offensive-line combination of the season against the Crimson Tide. Freshman right guard Trey Smith is the only lineman who has started every game at the same position.
"That can't be a reason for why you're not having success, and you can't allow it to be," Scott said Monday night. "We've just got to continue to plug in and keep popping."
Coach Jones and redshirt senior offensive tackle Brett Kendrick praised Johnson for his performance in emergency relief duty at left guard. Jack Jones started the first three games of the year at left guard. He did not make the trip to Alabama and last played on Sept. 30 in a 41-0 loss to Georgia.
"It's tough," Kendrick said. "Jack Jones is somebody that is from Tennessee, and he loves this place. We still love Jack, and Jack is still a part of the team. He's still here every day with us. He texted us right before the game Saturday, and not much has changed. I know it's hard on him. I can't imagine what he's going through, because he loves this game."
Jack Jones has an outline of the state of Tennessee tattooed on his left bicep. He was a prized recruit in the 2015 class and a consensus four-star prospect coming out of Murfreesboro's Oakland High School. He appeared in 18 games in his first two college seasons, starting seven.
"My heart hurts for him," said Scott, who was an offensive lineman at South Florida from 1996 to 1999. "That's the human piece of it that sometimes is missing out of this thing when we get going in so many different directions. This young man was out there playing football and he was hurting and going through what he was going through. Now to be told that you can't play the game anymore, that's extremely painful. That hurts."
Three of the five players Tennessee started on the offensive line against Alabama - Kendrick, Robertson and center Coleman Thomas - will graduate after this season. Losing Jack Jones and Boulware amid uncertainty over Hall's football future casts a murky pall over next year's offensive line.
The Vols have three offensive linemen committed in the 2018 recruiting class. The most highly touted of those is Knoxville Catholic standout Cade Mays, who reportedly is planning to visit Clemson this weekend.
"The offensive-line recruiting is paramount for this football program," Coach Jones said. "It's great in terms of recruiting because individuals are going to have the opportunity to come in and play immediately. So obviously, that recruiting element is big just in terms of our lack of numbers and lack of depth right now."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.