In Tennessee football's opener, there were several players who were held out.

One of them was Rickey Gibson III who was projected to be one of the Vols' starters at cornerback.

However, Josh Heupel suggested it was out of precaution to keep Gibson off the field and that he will be good to go for the upcoming matchup with NC State.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

"We held a couple guys on game day," Heupel said. "Might have seen them warm up. End of the day, (Gibson will) be ready to roll this week. Felt like for our football team and the longevity, all of it, there was a couple of guys we held out that could have played in that one but will hold for this week."

Gibson was replaced by Jalen McMurray in the starting lineup against Chattanooga. McMurray played 32 snaps, the most of anyone in the secondary in the game.

In his freshman season, Gibson played in all 13 games. He recorded nine tackles and one pass defended. Each appearance came off the bench outside of his first career start against Iowa in the Citrus Bowl.

Tennessee starting safety Will Brooks spoke on the impact Gibson brings to the table when healthy.

"He's obviously a super, super talented player," Brooks said. "He'seally dynamic. Excited to be able to have him back and be able to play this week."

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