Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel spoke with the media on Monday, after the No. 13 Volunteers defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 34-6 at Neyland Stadium. During that game, the team sack leader, Tyree Weathersby, went down to a season-ending knee injury. 

Heupel spoke about Weathersby, some key things with the team, and looked ahead to Texas A&M. Everything Heupel said is below.

Opening statement

“Good afternoon. Guys were in this morning and had an opportunity to learn a lot from the tape and push forward to A&M, getting ready to go play a really good football team. They’re talented in every phase of the game. They’ve lost some tough games. You can look at the way that they played last week, offense, 460 yards of offense. Alabama, a couple weeks ago, they got a lead at the end of the third quarter. And it’s a really good football team. It’ll be a great environment. Been there before and it will take us being at our best. Open it up.”

Where is the passing game now compared to early in the year, and is it close to breaking through?

“There’s a lot left out there for us. We missed some shots the other night. George [MacIntyre] played efficiently during the course of the football game. We got to hit on some of those things and improve in that area. And it’s everybody. It’s quarterback. It’s wideouts. It’s tight ends. It’s protection. All those pieces got to come together as we continue to grow. But we have continued to take steps in that way.”

What did you like about the Faizon Brandon package, and how much can it grow over the next few weeks?

“Some of the situational stuff that we were able to use him in created first downs. He was a major part of that explosive run, our pass to Mike [Matthews]. Gives defenses another thing to prepare for. But those things work because of the execution, the quarterback and the 10 other guys around him too.”

With injuries piling up, including Tyree Weathersby, how concerned are you about attrition over a nine-game conference schedule?

“A ninth game inside of this league, the totality of the season inside of this league, absolutely aware of. You want to get your guys prepared to go play well, but physically they got to be in a great spot to go play well as well. So now you’re balancing all of those things. I hate it for Tyree. He’s played extremely well. He’s worked extremely hard. He was playing his best football. And I know he’ll bounce back from it, but obviously a huge bump in the road for him.”

How do you decide when to promote an inexperienced player into the rotation versus piling more snaps on a veteran?

“It’s kind of like being a sports beat writer. They’re either prepared for their moment or they’re not.”

How do you assess the defense covering tight ends after Kentucky found space, with more good tight ends ahead?

“You’re always going to see good tight ends in this league. Playing at this level of football, you’re able to recruit special players at that position and they’re hard to find. Length, size, athleticism, ability to play in the core. Some of those things are just eyes on the snap, being on their keys. We’ve defended it extremely well at times. We gave up a couple of plays in this last one. One of them we just got to play the ball.”

Why has Jeremiah Telander benefited so much from Jim Knowles’ system, and how has he taken his game to a new level?

“Well, I think Jim’s able to take advantage of the skill sets of our players. And that comes in a lot of different forms and fashions. But Telander’s smart, tough, a relentless competitor, has a skill set, has developed a skill set to do multiple things, play the second level, be up on the first level. He’s got great command of what we’re doing defensively, been a huge part of a lot of our success.”

Texas A&M has the best red zone defense. What are you emphasizing to have more successful trips?

“They got really good personnel. As the field constricts, windows get tighter. They’re good against the run. They’re big, physical, they do a good job fitting things, and you got to be efficient down there.”

Are Mariyon Dye and Jordan Norman the main guys stepping in for Tyree, and what have you seen from their growth?

“Those two guys, we got great trust and they’ve played extremely well. There will be some young guys that have to step up as well.”

What did you like from the young defensive linemen who played Saturday night?

“Young guys are continuing to get better. They have a great skill set, length, athleticism, power. They’re fundamentally and technically getting better. Rodney’s done a good job of continuing to grow those guys throughout the course of the season. They’re more comfortable in what we’re doing schematically, more time on task, have taken greater ownership of it.”

How much has Donovan Haslam improved, and how has he made the offensive line more physical alongside Sam Pendleton?

“Donovan’s big, powerful, heavy-handed. He’s able to get out of his hips and create movement. I showed a clip today, third and short, him and Sam working together. Dent in the defensive line, right in the middle of it. Donovan’s continued to grow and get better. He was playing really good football early in training camp, got nicked up, missed a little bit of time, continued to grow here as he’s gotten more opportunities. There’s still more meat on the bone for him too, and being purposeful in the way he prepares and practices has helped him.”

What have you seen from Hezekiah Harris recently, and how did he play in his snaps against Kentucky?

“A guy that’s grown on special teams. He’s gotten his first taste of football that way. Throughout the course of the season, whether it’s one-on-one pass rush, it’s offense, defense, good on good, he’s just continued to grow. He’s become more mature in the way that he approaches every rep every single day, and that leads itself to you growing as a player and earning trust from your coaches and from your peers.”

DeSean Bishop has started slow in some games and gotten stronger as they go. What allows him to stay patient?

“DeSean’s a great player. What he’s done with his body since he arrived this offseason, how he takes care of it during the course of the week and gets ready for game day is a major part of why he does get stronger throughout the course of the football game. There’s a couple cuts early in the football game that DeSean and some of our other backs missed. But DeSean is tough, smart, and he does a great job getting his pads down. He made people miss in the hole, that four-minute drive. That happens because of his skill set.”

What have Ty Redmond and Kayin Lee given you at corner this season?

“Two guys that I feel like are still continuing to grow inside the scope of what we’re doing defensively. I mentioned a week ago, Ty does a great job on deep ball, not panicking, plays patient when he’s beat at the line of scrimmage, plays through the wide receiver’s hands. Kayin’s made a ton of big plays for us. At the end of the day, they’re playing really well inside of the scope of what we’re doing defensively. They’re playing with a physical presence as well. Ty had a big perimeter screen, blew it up on third down that forces a fourth down where we’re able to get off the field, and Kane had a sack on the next play. So they’re doing a really good job in coverage and continuing to grow and have a physical presence on the field.

What did Luca show in practice to earn trust on the 22-yard reception, and how important is the tight end unit going forward?

“With Ethan going down early in the year, his growth was important to us. It’s important for us down the stretch that he’s able to go play extremely high level of football. We do have trust in him. That’s in the run game. It’s in pass protection. It’s running routes. I’d like him to have a little bit better ball security during the finish of that play, but he plays hard and is able to make plays.”

Beyond Braylon Staley and Mike Matthews, what have you seen from young receivers like T.K. Keys and Tyreek King?

“Those guys have gotten some play during the course of some of the ball games, maybe not as much last week, just how it kind of played out. They’re continuing to grow, getting better every day. They’ve gotten better in their preparation. There’s still some areas that they’ve got to continue to grow to become a seasoned vet, too.”

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