University of Tennessee Athletics
Vol Report: Kentucky Week Begins
October 23, 2017 | Football
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee football head coach Butch Jones, defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, offensive coordinator Larry Scott and student-athletes Brett Kendrick, John Kelly and Shawn Shamburger spoke to reporters on Monday in the Ray and Lucy Hand Digital Studio.
Shamburger, a true freshman, was one of Tennessee's standout players from this past week's loss at Alabama, finishing with a team-high 12 tackles and one sack in his first career start at cornerback.
"I was really pleased to see Shawn Shamburger step up in his first career start, and as a true freshman," Jones said. "I thought he brought a lot of energy. He was in situations where they tried to attack him on the perimeter because he is a true freshman. He handled it really well."
Shoop echoed those sentiments and said that Shamburger will continue to compete for playing time.
"The thing that impressed me was that the stage wasn't too big for him," Shoop said. "He played like he had practiced all week. I'm not saying he played perfect, but he stepped and showed that he belongs at this level. He is a guy to keep an eye on in the future and is the kind of player we are looking for."
Shamburger had the task of covering 2016 Freshman All-American and All-SEC receiver Calvin Ridley last week. He said that he trusted his training and everything he had learned since he stepped foot on campus.
"Football is football, no matter who you play," Shamburger said. "When you come to college, people expect all this hype and things like that but football is football. Once you learn the scheme, if you can play football, you can play football."
Tennessee (3-4, 0-4 SEC) continues SEC road play this week when the Vols head up to Lexington to face Kentucky (5-2, 2-2 SEC) at Kroger Field. The 7:30 p.m. ET game will be televised on SEC Network.
Jack Jones' Career Ends Due To Injury
Butch Jones announced that junior offensive lineman Jack Jones would not resume his playing career due to injury.
"To update you all on the status of Jack Jones, he has had some recurring neck and shoulder injuries," he said. "After meeting with doctors, everyone agreed that it may be in his best interest and that he should no longer play football. We hurt for Jack. We hurt for his great family. We will be here for support and he will continue to be a member of this team moving forward."
Jack Jones, who starred at Oakland High School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, played in 25 career games for the Vols with 10 starts and helped UT win three-straight bowl games from 2015-17.
Vols Confident They Can End Struggles
With five games remaining in the regular season, Tennessee's players and coaches are confident that they can put an end to recent struggles that have contributed to losses.
"The guys are still pretty confident," Scott said. "Every time we come out, they are working and playing football. That is why they are here. They know what we need to do. We have to turn on the video and look at it. We have to ask what we need to do. I evaluate myself after every game until we get moving on the next opponent. We ask them to do the same. We are all facing that head on right now."
Kendrick said that the offense had too may three-and-outs and missed assignments that will need to be corrected for UT's game against Kentucky. As one of the older players who have been part of recent Tennessee teams that have produced winning streaks in October and November, Kendrick is confident the Vols can turn things around.
"These last three games have been tough for us, but I still think there are good things going on in this program," he said. "I think our defense is playing great. We just have to step up on offense and know that if we win these next five games, we are 8-4 again. We'll get to go to a good bowl game and hopefully get a win there. I don't think it's all bad right now. I don't think the sky is falling. It's just raining a little bit."
Kelly added that Tennessee has the talent on the roster to end its offensive shortcomings.
"We have some playmakers on our side," Kelly said. "Like I said, it comes down to execution. We have some playmakers, and we need to give them a chance to make plays. We have to give all of our guys a chance to make plays. When we do get chances we have to take advantage of it."
