Joe Milton ‘closer’ to 100 percent

The quarterback questions seemingly never stop in Knoxville.

Michigan transfer Joe Milton won the job in camp this fall, beating out Hendon Hooker and Harrison Bailey for the top spot. However, his stay as the starter was limited to just two games, thanks to an injury he suffered against Pittsburgh.

Hooker has started the two games since following his fill-in effort against Pitt. Josh Heupel said Milton was not at 100 percent entering the matchup against Florida, which resulted in another start for Hooker.

But what happens when Milton is back to full health? And will Hendon Hooker even be ready to go after leaving the Florida game? We don’t know, and Heupel is unlikely to give out those answers ahead of Saturday.

He did, however, say that Milton is getting closer to full strength on Wednesday ahead of the Missouri game.

Milton struggled through the Bowling Green and Pittsburgh games, struggling with inaccuracy on his deep throws. It’s a small sample size for both, but Hendon Hooker does seem to have the edge in performance to this point. Again though, his status for Saturday is unknown.

If it does happen to be Milton, it’s going to be interesting to see how this staff calls the game for him. Do they change it up and play it more conservative? Or continue to let him fire away — despite the lack of results?