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Tennessee left guard possibly out for season with undisclosed injury

Sleep coach?: You probably thought you’ve heard it all in terms of the number of coaches and staff members that a collegiate program has, but Butch Jones, who is a self-proclaimed lover of sports science, said that the team has been doing a better job getting sleep during camp.

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Tennessee’s Marcus Jackson goes through a blocking drill…

“That’ll be a work in progress”, Jones said of the passing offense at Tennessee’s media day event Friday. “It’s really based on how his surgery comes, and how his body performs”.

Obviously, with so many new, young faces on the roster, there will be lots of combinations tried along the offensive line.

Johnson is the Volunteers most experienced lineman with 17 starts, including 12 last season at guard.

If those guys stay healthy, the Vols should be more explosive.

Now, the Vols have to hit the reset button a little bit.

Tennessee’s last four opponents in 2014 failed to crack 30 points, but overall the Vols allowed 4.71 points per scoring opportunity – the worst rate in the SEC. “It’s all how they develop. We have the competitive depth that’s needed”. Butch Jones said Jack Jones was held out for precautionary reasons and that Robertson should return this coming week. The Murfreesboro, Tennessee, native has been impressing the staff.

“They actually have a system set up underneath their mattress, and we can gauge how many hours of sleep they have”, Jones said.

Last year Tennessee’s offensive line was abysmal.

The revival of the SEC East isn’t going to happen overnight, but having Tennessee striding in the right direction as a program is a positive for the division.

Late in the practice, Tennessee’s quarterbacks stood at the 30-yard line and threw passes in an attempt to hit the crossbar at the nearest end zone. 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.

Tennessee has the potential to be explosive on offense with quarterback Josh Dobbs and running back Jalen Hurd returning.

Photo by Patrick Brown /Times Free Press. Jones is an in-state talent who may not start right away but could earn playing time if he proves he is polished enough. In an update, the station added that “North went down with a serious, non-contact injury to his leg [during practice] and could not put any weight on it” and an “MRI is scheduled for Thursday” to determine the extent of the injury.

Tennessee begins the season September 5 against Bowling Green in Nashville’s Nissan Stadium before facing Oklahoma in its home opener September 12. Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

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Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Marcus Jackson could miss all of 2015 after undergoing surgery