Pruitt updates status of Tennessee DB Baylen Buchanan

One of the main storylines in camp has been the injury status of Tennessee defensive back Baylen Buchanan, who has been fighting to get back from an injury. Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt promised an update after a couple of weeks of camp, which he delivered today.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a positive update.

“Baylen had a couple of issues during the offseason,” Jeremy Pruitt said. “Basically, we discovered that he has kind of a narrowing of the spine. So for his safety and precaution, we’re holding him out. We’ve sent him to a lot of specialists across the country. We’re just kind of waiting and gathering information.”

Buchanan has yet to take the field in fall camp and was limited for much of the spring. The 5-11 cornerback started all 12 games for Tennessee last season, manning the “star” role within the secondary.

Buchanan’s injury is serious enough that Tennessee could end up shutting him down for the season. Pruitt noted that the senior defensive back has a redshirt season left, if needed.

“He has a redshirt,” Pruitt noted. “One thing you’ve got to figure out is, okay is this something that he’s had the whole time he’s played? Or is this something that happened right now? But we’ve held him out and we’re going to continue to do that because his safety is our first priority.”

Tennessee has worked a number of different players at Buchanan’s position so far this fall — most recently Shawn Shamburger. Nigel Warrior and Bryce Thompson have also seen time at the spot. One thing to also keep in mind here is the emergence of freshman cornerback Warren Burrell. If the staff feels comfortable enough with him handling time on the outside, we could see Thompson or Alontae Taylor kick to the star spot.