Tennessee vs. Kentucky: Jeremy Pruitt updates the injury report

It’s that time of year. Just about every team in the country is dealing with the injury bug right now as we head into week 11 of the college football season. Tennessee is no different.

The Vols struggled to get by Charlotte last weekend with the offense only able to put up seven points. One reason why — outside of poor offensive line play — was a very limited Ty Chandler, who only handled two carries against the 49ers. Jeremy Banks got the bulk of the work, just one week removed from being moved to the linebacker position.

Essentially with a game off for Chandler, Pruitt expects all of his running backs to be available on Saturday against Kentucky.

“We are just like every one else, it’s November, our guys have bumps and bruises but all our guys will be ready to play,” Pruitt said during his Monday press conference.

Chandler’s presence in the offense is huge. He brings something to the table that nobody else in that running back room can — game-breaking speed. Without him in the game, the entire offensive unit took a big hit.

Defensively, we haven’t seen freshman safety Trevon Flowers since the bye week, when he broke his collarbone. That could change this week, according to Pruitt. Tennessee also will get Micah Abernathy back on the practice field this week.

“Trevon started doing some things last week,” Pruitt said. “He’ll continue this week. He’ll probably be a game day decision. Micah is going to start practicing this week, so we’ll see how he goes.”

We certainly saw some issues in the secondary against South Carolina. Jake Bentley didn’t have a great day passing, but he hit enough big plays down the field to sink the Vols in Columbia.

One thing to watch on the Kentucky side is the status of star running back Benny Snell. He was forced to leave the game against Georgia with an ankle injury, but did return in the second half.

“He’s not worn down, but he’s a little beat up,” Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said. “I’ll see him later on today (at practice). His ankle is more of a bruise than it is a sprain. We’ll see how tender that is.”

Snell is already over the 1,000 yard mark rushing for the season. He’s responsible for a large chunk of the Wildcats’ offense, so this is definitely something we’ll be monitoring throughout the week.