Tennessee turns to young receivers to step up after McCoy's injury

During the second quarter of Tennessee's 41-20 win over South Carolina, starting X-receiver Bru McCoy went down with an unfortunate injury.

On his second grab of the day, McCoy suffered a lower body blow that resulted in him being carted off the field and sent to the hospital.

Following the game, head coach Josh Heupel said he would get an update on the injury in the upcoming days.

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"Hate what happened to Bru," said Heupel. "We’ll have a more of an update tomorrow or on Monday I’m sure, but everybody saw it. Was a lower body injury that didn’t look good. So, there’s nobody better than him. Great teammate, great leader, tough as they come. Works extremely hard to be his best and make sure his teammates do that too. So I hate it for him.”

Behind McCoy on the depth chart are two options. Both Kaleb Webb and Chas Nimrod are redshirt freshmen who have seen time in relief during the course of this season.

Now, one will be thrust into a starting position and asked to replace McCoy's production.

Another player who could be called upon is Dont'e Thornton although he has seen all of his time in the slot, so far. Freshman Nathan Leacock also could see the field.

“Not any different than the guys you’ve seen lately," said Heupel on the plan. "Kaleb Webb is going to have to play at a high level. Chas Nimrod. Dont’e wasn’t available tonight. We should be able to get him back, get him going, too. Nathan Leacock. So we got a bunch of guys that got to fill the roles and that’s the nature of this game. It inevitably happens. Next man up. They've got to be ready for their opportunity. They got to go take advantage of it.”

The primary options will be Webb and Nimrod due to their current status as second-stringers.

However, in the second half, Webb never caught a pass and Nimrod snagged just one for 10 yards. At this point in the year, Webb has reeled in four passes for 33 yards and a touchdown. This was Nimrod's first grab of his career.

There is a confidence they will be able to contribute, though. This comes from quarterback Joe Milton III who has been working with them for the past two seasons.

He even says they have been able to lift him when things get rough.

"Those guys are working hard since spring ball," Milton. "Even since the Orange Bowl last year. Those guys have been working hard, coming in asking questions. Even on the sideline, when things are not going right, they always try to figure out a way to ask questions and get the ball. They always challenge me, that's either at practice or when things aren't going right. They always challenge me.

"Everybody is always looking at Joe to see what type of energy I have. Just having those guys being able to just pick me up sometimes when I'm down. We're human. Not everybody has a good day. Just having those guys have the right energy every day and coming in with the same energy, same mindset. Being able to attack, it's great."

Slot receiver Squirrel White didn't feel any drop off after McCoy's injury.

He knows its a next man up mentality and as a member of the same recruiting class as Webb and Nimrod, he knows what they're capable of.

"I feel like nothing really needed to happen," said White. "Our guys are able to come in and step up and be ready when their name's called."

With a bye week on the schedule before returning to action against Texas A&M, Tennessee will have two weeks to evaluate the position and make a choice for who will start.

Typically, Heupel has let McCoy and Ramel Keyton play nearly every snap, but more of a rotation at X could be used as it gets ironed out.

Whether its Webb, Nimrod or Leacock or Thornton moving outside, the Vols will need a step up in production from someone to keep the offense rolling.

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