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Tennessee's placekicking competition 'still up in the air'

Perhaps a bit under the radar compared to other competitions on the roster, one of the more interesting position battles on Tennessee’s team this training camp is the showdown for the starting placekicker job.

While senior Aaron Medley remains the clubhouse leader for the first-team kicking duties against Georgia Tech in the opener, freshman Brent Cimaglia, a 3-star scholarship kicker in UT’s 2017 class, is pushing the senior for the job.

“I have great confidence in Aaron. I think Aaron has really, really picked it up in camp,” Jones said Sunday. “I do think that’s a byproduct that he’s in a competitive battle. It’s one of those positions that’s still up in the air. He’s competing every single day, and he’s being pushed by a true freshman. That’s healthy.”

The “healthy competition” has raised Medley’s play this preseason, per Jones, noting he's better accuracy and consistency from the senior from Marshall County.

Last year, Medley was just 11-of-16 on field goals, really struggling on attempts over 40 yards. For his career, he has just nine makes over 40 yards — none longer than a 47-yard kick.

“He’s becoming more consistent,” Jones said.

“He can do it. He has the leg strength. I believe in him.”

With a new quarterback and question marks defensively, placekicker could play a key role for the Vols this fall. They need Medley — or Cimaglia — to be ready to make a clutch kick each week. So far in training camp, the battle to hold his job has brought out the best in the senior.

“I think that’s really elevated Aaron’s play, not only from a field-goal standpoint, but also from a kickoff standpoint and from accuracy of where we want the ball in the box, to hang time, to all those things. So, he’s in a very competitive battle, but I like the way he’s competing,” Jones said.

“I'll know a little bit more in the next week in terms of (overall) accuracy. Everything is charted in practice. We try to put them in game-type situations. … You’ve got to try to mimic gameday every single day. That’s the only way.”

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