Josh Heupel provides injury updates on Brandon Turnage, absent defensive backs

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel was without several defensive backs for Saturday’s game against Tennessee-Martin. Kamal Hadden, Christian Charles were both held out with injury, while Brandon Turnage left the game after being injured in the first quarter.

The Volunteers still cruised to a 65-24 victory, though the injuries provide questions for the secondary heading into next week. Heupel addressed the situation postgame, providing a positive update on Turnage and saying he feels the group will be fine heading into Week 9.

“Obviously, we got thinner,” Heupel said. “We were thin going into the game. Felt like a week of rest would help them and benefit them going into the back half. Then obviously Brandon, he’s going to be fine. Just felt like it was the right decision medically to hold him out here from that point of the injury. He should be ready to roll.

“The next guy up, he took advantage of his opportunities and played very well. We’ve got to continue to develop on the back end so we can be better. Today, a lot of that after the first drive was with our young guys. We need to be better.”

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Brandon Turnage suffered his injury while defending a pass in the first quarter. Turnage drifted back into coverage and helped break up the pass, but he came down on his butt near the back of the end zone and his momentum carried him into the wall just beyond the end zone, where his head slammed into the padding. Turnage briefly got up before stumbling in between a pair of teammates.

He then took a knee and was tended to by athletic trainers, who quickly escorted him into the locker room. Turnage was able to walk there on his own power.

The injuries forced JUCO transfer defensive back Dee Williams to see more action, and Josh Heupel had high praise for how Williams stepped up. He handled the Volunteers’ punt returns on the day, returning four for an average of 12.3 yards.

“Just a guy that hasn’t had a ton of opportunities,” Heupel said. “Injured most of training camp and early part of the season. For him to just continue to play and get more comfortable and be better in fundamentals, technique, discipline and let his athleticism take over from there.”

Tennessee will hope its secondary can return to full health by next Saturday, when it will kick off against Kentucky at 7 p.m. ET.