Report: Tennessee Safety Todd Kelly Jr. Out Indefinitely with a Knee Injury

The injury bug will not leave Knoxville. This is getting into some all too familiar territory now, bringing back flashbacks of 2016. According to multiple outlets, Tennessee senior safety Todd Kelly Jr. is dealing with a knee issue.

Volquest.com is reporting the same news.

Rumors swirled about Kelly’s status last week, but Tennessee appeared to be in the clear as Kelly took part in last week’s game against Indiana State.

Austin Price has more on that inside his post on Volquest.

For the last couple of weeks, Kelly has been dealing with chronic knee pain and the problems have worsened. As a result, Kelly is not with the Vols in Gainesville. Kelly, along with his family, will be visiting with trainers and doctors about the next course of action for the knee that has been problematic at various times throughout his college career.

Kelly is thought of as a leader on this defense, but hasn’t been in a starting role in 2017. Nigel Warrior and Micah Abernathy have been the starters instead. Kelly did lead the Volunteers in tackles last season.

It sounds like this issue has been lingering around for some time, even stemming back to last year. With Evan Berry dealing with a hamstring issue, Tennessee looks to be facing limited safety depth on Saturday in Gainesville. Berry is listed as a game time decision.

We’ll have more on this next week as Kelly seeks a second opinion and weighs his options.