All A.J. Johnson did as a sophomore in 2012 was lead the Southeastern Conference in tackles.

He had 138 total. But those were just tackles, as Tommy Thigpen puts it. And those aren't enough.

"He's gotta do better," Thigpen, Tennessee's new linebackers coach under Butch Jones, said after practice Thursday morning. "He made a lot of tackles, but what we've emphasized is production.

"Tackles are tackles," Thigpen continued, "but sacks, tackles for losses, caused fumbles, fumble recoveries, that's what we want out of him this year.

"He told me he had one sack his whole career, so we've got to get that up. There's a lot of things we can do better as linebackers. There's always room for improvement."



...More... To continue reading this article you must be a member. Sign Up Now for a FREE Trial