Tennessee football held its second scrimmage of the spring on Monday morning.

After the event, Vols head coach Josh Heupel met with the media to discuss how things went.

Here's what he said.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Good work this morning. Got some situational football in, as well. There are some things to clean up from that. The defense, one defense in particular, I thought had a really good day. Started really fast. Offensively, some things that we’ve got to clean up just in execution and communication, but a lot of good work.

Yeah, just both sides of the ball, a few more penalties than we had in scrimmage one. We’ve got to play smarter, play cleaner. That was true offensively, but on the defensive side of the ball, as well. Got to continue to grow in the way that we play.

You know, the game hasn’t changed. You’ve got to be physical. You’ve got to play with alignment and technique. You’ve got to play assignment sound. So we’ve tried to balance that throughout the course of spring, but at some point you’ve got to get the work that you need to grow as a team, too. So on days like today, we’ve placed an emphasis on that.

Peyton’s had a great spring. He’s got a lot more comfort and understanding in the scope of what we’re doing. It should be that way in year two. He grew throughout the course of last year, too, but he’s done a really, really good job. That’s with the ball in his hands, but it’s also playing without the ball. All those running backs have done a good job of growing throughout the first, I don’t know, we’re past the halfway point at this point, but have really grown fundamentally in playing without the football. They’ve all continued to take strides in the understanding of what we’re doing, in particular the young guys. Lot of good competition in that room.

No, just defensively, started fast today. I thought they played extremely well early in the scrimmage. Offensively, some execution that we’ve got to clean up. That’s guys that are skill players out on the perimeter, with some of our protection stuff, too. All in all, there’s some things that we’ve got to do at a better level today.

They get the urgency of the competition. We grade those guys every day. Certainly understand that you don’t just put the Tennessee helmet on and positive things happen for you on game day. This is a game where you’ve to go make it happen. All of those guys are in the growth, talking about the young guys in particular, right, there’s not an end destination, man. It’s the journey to continue to grow to be the player that you need, and then to operate, 11 guys operating as one, offense, defense and on special teams, too. We’re a long ways from kickoff, we’ve got a chance to be a good team, but we’ve got to continue to grow.

When you do that, there’s a whole other workload that you’ve got to take on, because you’ve got to understand what’s going on on both sides of the football. He’s done a really good job. He’s spent a lot extra time in here, learning what we’re doing offensively, being able to handle the structure of the offense. We’re intentional in what positions we’re putting him in during the course of practice, today during the scrimmage and trying to manage that side of it. He’s worked hard. You can look at him as a punt returner to see the skill set when he has the ball in his hands, that he’s got a chance to be a dynamic playmaker.

Couple of plays down the field that I really liked. We got into a four-minute situation, there’s some things that we can clean up in the operation of that. That’s the first time that they’ve had that this season, this spring. All in all, there’s some real positives, but there’s some things that we’ve got to clean up and that’s all the guys that are in the room.

I like where the group’s going. There’s competition. They understand that, day-in and day-out, what’s going on out on the practice field and how they’re getting graded. Today, I thought there were times that we executed well in the run game. I don’t think it was a complete day where we executed at the level that we’re capable of as an entire unit the entire day.

Those guys have been really consistent as far as what we’re getting out of them on the practice field and in the meeting room. You see them continuing to take strides. I thought they both performed really well today, talking about the two new young guys that were in that room.

For me, I think after watching it I’ll have a better understanding of their overall performance throughout the course of the day. Fundamentally and within the scope of their technique and scheme, they’ve continued to take strides and you can see that in 11-on-11, but you can see it in some of our group work where we’re working those fundamentals and techniques, as well. It’s a talented group. It’s long. It’s athletic. Just got to continue to grow as a player before we get to the fall.

Braylon wasn’t going today. I thought the other two guys did a good job in the scope of what we were doing offensively. They’ve been consistent in making plays day-in and day-out on the practice field and for them it’s just constant growth as far as within the scope of what we’re doing. The fundamentals and technique, learning how to attack defenders, reading zone, man and ultimately getting on the same page with the quarterback.

Yeah, you want to come try out here? Listen, ultimately it’s always about the guys in the room. A year ago, we had some guys that departed through the transfer portal. Hard to keep everybody happy at that position. I love the group that we’ve got. As a staff, you always evaluate where you’re at on the back end of spring ball and we’ll certainly do that, but I do really like the guys that we’ve got in there. How they work, how they compete, how they try and grow. That’s on the practice field. It’s outside of it. I like what they’ve done through the course of spring ball, too.

For us, it’s the third opportunity to play football in the game day-like situation. I think it’s really important for the young guys that get a chance to go out and perform in front of people. It’s a part of the growth for them as we get ready for kickoff next fall. I’m looking forward to seeing a huge crowd. I’m not sure what we’re limited to because of construction, but expect that thing to be packed out. It should be a beautiful day and I’m looking forward to seeing our fans.

Yeah, relatively. There might be a few subtle tweaks to it, but yes.

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