Rick Barnes updates injury status of Yves Pons

After suffering a face injury in practice late last week, Yves Pons was forced to miss the Florida game over the weekend. Tennessee’s sophomore wing took a shot to the cheek, needing surgery on Friday.

Pons still dressed for the game and took part in portions of the warmups, but remained on the bench against the Gators. Jalen Johnson filled in, playing nine minutes and registering two assists.

After the game, Rick Barnes was optimistic about Pons being available this week.

“He’s swollen, as you can imagine,” Barnes said. “They had to go push that bone back in. Saturday the plan was to make the mask that he’ll have to wear for a little bit. I think he’ll be ready by Wednesday.”

Pons has gone from the bench, to in the starting five, to back to the bench this season for Tennessee. He’s seen his minutes decrease over the past few weeks, bottoming out last week. He played just five minutes against Texas A&M and only seven against Missouri. Pons finally showed some offensive confidence against Missouri, scoring six points in limited action.

He should return to action with a mask on Wednesday.