Vols’ Jackson to undergo surgery, could miss entire season

Maybe not all the way to the top of the East Division and a place in the SEC title game in Atlanta, but another step that would have the Vols winning eight or nine games this season.

Less than two weeks into training camp, Tennessee already has likely lost injured guard Marcus Jackson for the season. North played for Lumberton and was all-Robeson County at quarterback before transferring to Mallard Creek High School in Charlotte, where he switched to receiving.

“I like having pressure on us”, Kerbyson said last week. “This is where your toughness, this is where your team chemistry, this is where your resiliency is born”.

The Vols also worked out Saturday without guards Jack Jones and Jashon Robertson, who was in uniform but didn’t participate in offensive line drills as he recovers from an ankle injury.

It should be noted, however, that the Vols have needed three quarterbacks in both of Butch Jones’ seasons at Tennessee. Ten of the SEC’s 14 teams had at least 30 plays from scrimmage of 40-plus yards during that same stretch.

But Jones never has possessed this much talent, particularly at the skill positions.

In other injury news, Jones said cornerback Justin Martin has a knee sprain that could cause him to miss 1 to 1 ½ weeks. The only team to truly light up Dobbs during that stretch-which included a game against the fearsome Alabama front seven-was Missouri on November. 22, a loss in which Dobbs was sacked six times. His yards per carry were fairly low last year at just 4.73, but he’s extremely talented and, if the offensive line can open up some holes, he’ll get to show that ability this year.

Dobbs isn’t Tennessee’s only playmaker.

Dobbs naturally becomes a bit defensive when asked about Jones’ concerns about the passing game, agreeing with his coach’s assessment that the offense has work to do but pointing out the calendar still reads August. Tennessee’s roster lists Mosley as 350 pounds and McKenzie as 327 pounds.

“It’s nowhere near what game days at Neyland are, but it’s definitely a steppingstone, so the first time they walk in here, they’re not star-struck and can’t think or do their jobs”, sophomore tight end Ethan Wolf said. They’re going to have to be honest. “It’s all how they develop”.

What’s more, Jackson was one of the reasons that the Vols thrived down the stretch, as Jack Farrell of Pro Football Focus noted in June. “It should be an exciting season this year”. “He is the No. 2 quarterback”. Freshman Sheriron Jones also had been competing for that job.

“I was looking at that today, and I wouldn’t want to put a number on it right now, because we’re still relatively early in training camp”, he said.