KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Vols return to action with their penultimate home game against No. 5/5/6 Florida on Saturday, their first game in Neyland Stadium since Oct. 24. Seniors Josh Palmer (WR) and Deandre Johnson (LB) and sophomore Eric Gray (RB) talk with media members about their open Thanksgiving week and getting back to work.
Saturday’s matchup with the Gators will be broadcast on CBS at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Josh Palmer, SR – WR
On if it’s been difficult to adjust not playing as frequently as most seasons…
“A little bit. You get used to running a lot and then when you get a lot of time off, it’s hard to get your legs back. I feel like with the breaks, we’ve been able to get our legs back under us, running a little bit more, especially this past week. We ran a little bit more. We just come out to practice and we work hard. That’s what we do here. A lot of the time, it works out. We should be good for game day.”
On where he feels the offense has improved the most in the past weeks…
“Understanding the game plan. We’ve had a lot of time to really sit down with Coach (Jim) Chaney and have him explain to us the whys: why we’re doing certain things and how we’re supposed to do them. I think with a lot of this time off, we’ve been able to understand what he wants out of us.”
On how he would describe Harrison Bailey’s performance in practices over the past few weeks…
“Harrison’s coming along. Obviously, he didn’t get a lot of reps because of the fall camp and not having a spring. All of the quarterbacks are rallying together. The receivers are pushing him and the coaches are pushing him. We’re excited to see how he’s going to respond. He’s responding well in practice, so that’s really exciting to see.”
On how he would assess his season up to this point…
“I probably have a list of things that I wish I could have done better in games. Every loss, I feel like there was something that I could have done better that would have changed the tide of the game. I feel like when I played well, we had good results in the game. If I played badly, then we had bad results in the game. I put a lot of weight on my shoulders to help this team. There are always things I need to improve on. I don’t really look at it as things I do well, because I’m supposed to do it.”
On how much he misses playing in front of Tennessee’s fans inside of Neyland Stadium…
“I miss it. The away games definitely take a toll on the flights. I’m excited to get back in Neyland with the fans, play a heck of a game and beat Florida.”
On if using the jug machines after practice helps with his footwork and timing…
“I have two guys, Will and Ben, that help me every day. Will will play defense and play harder than a normal DB could in the game, because the refs would call pass interference. That’s an everyday thing I’ve been doing for the past two years with these guys. They’ve helped me a lot in my development. I don’t really think it helps with footwork, but it helps with hand-eye coordination by working on the depth of certain routes. Then, I’ll work with the quarterbacks later so we can develop timing.”
On what impresses him the most about Eric Gray…
“His competitiveness and his toughness. He wants the ball and he wants to show the world what he can do. It’s our responsibilities as receivers to help him show that. We’re excited to see when he breaks long runs and we’re the ones blocking for him.”
Eric Gray, SO – RB
On the possibility of having a 1,000-yard season…
“I think about that all the time. It still means a lot, still pushing forward with three games left. I think we have enough chances to go out and do it.”
On not playing and concern for teammates going through contact tracing…
“It’s tough not to be out there playing, watching all these guys playing and not being able to play. But it has also been a great way for people to get back fresh, get back healthy. Playing this SEC schedule, some guys get banged up. Some guys getting banged up so to be able to get back fresh. Those guys that are in contact tracing are still get to work out a little bit on their own and still come back on Friday to be ready to play on Saturday.”
On his strength as a running back…
“My elusiveness, my vision and being able to make someone miss. I believe that’s what I’ve done my whole life and I feel that’s what my strengths are.”
On the Tennessee-Florida game…
“My dad is a big college football guy and he always talked about those games. He always talks about those games like Tennessee vs. Florida. When I was getting recruited, we were talking about what schools I wanted to go to and he was telling me that Tennessee-Florida rivalry, Tennessee-Alabama rivalry are big rivalry games that you want to play in and do well in because everyone is watching, everyone in the country is watching.”
On team morale and why no one has opted out…
“You haven’t seen a lot of the opt-outs like you have at other schools and that just shows the mindset of our team. We are in it to win it; we are all in it together, everyone is in it together. We just want to go out here and flip the script, we want to get this train back on the tracks and keep going forward. We want to make sure that we are doing everything preparing each week the right way so we can put our best foot forward.”
Deandre Johnson, SR – LB
On what it means to play Florida, being from Florida…
“This is another great opportunity to go out there and play some really good guys. They’ve got a couple of guys at Florida that I played with in high school. It’s going to be good going against those guys again. We’re looking to compete. I’m ready.”
On facing Florida tight end Kyle Pitts…
“He’s regarded as one of the best in the nation. He has many strengths. We know that he’s going to be out in the pass tree trying to run a lot of routes and concepts. We’ve got to do a good job of identifying him before the play starts and making sure we’re keeping our eyes on him.”
On how he would evaluate his season up to this point…
“It has had its good and its bad. I can’t really say as of now. It’s too early. We’ve still got three games left. I’m trying to fight hard to get wins. It’s never going well when you’re not winning. I’m just trying to fight my hardest and empty the tank to go out there and get a win.”
On what the key to being a consistently good pass rusher is…
“The most important thing is keeping your body right, making sure you’re watching film, studying your opponents, studying these types of sets, what plays they like to run, watching out for snap indicators and learning new moves, new techniques with your hands. It goes on and on. Most definitely, it’s keeping your body in shape and staying sharp mentally.”
On if it further motivates him to see that he will get many opportunities to pressure the quarterback against a pass-heavy Florida team…
“It most definitely does, when you see those pass attempts and you see how many times they try to connect through the air. I’m going to have my ears pinned back, looking to make some opportunities off the edge and make some winning plays for this football team on Saturday.”
-UT Athletics
