Josh Heupel updates Tennessee's plan following Jaylen McCollough arrest

The status of Tennessee senior defensive back Jaylen McCollough for Saturday’s contest against Alabama is in doubt following his arrest and subsequent charges being filed for an alleged aggravated assault on Sunday afternoon.

Allegedly, McCollough struck a man in the face after the man had mistakenly entered the wrong apartment, causing him to fall down a flight of stairs and lose consciousness. McCollough, through his attorney, maintains his innocence. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel was non-committal when discussing McCollough’s status for Saturday.

“And obviously the situation is a process that goes on and we’re still going through that and we’ll see where we get to, late tomorrow,” Heupel said on Thursday.

Asked if McCollough has been practicing this week, Heupel demurred.

“I’m not going to get into all that, right now,” Heupel said.

Earlier in the week, Heupel indicated that the a decision about McCollough’s availability on Saturday was not his to make. Athletic and likely university administrators were handling that issue, Heupel said, and he would learn from them late this week about whether or not McCollough will be allowed to play.

Currently, the Vols are prepping for McCollough to not be available.

“We’re getting multiple guys ready to play,” Heupel said.

McCollough has maintained he is innocent, through his attorney

On Tuesday, McCollough’s attorney — Chloe Akers — released a statement, emphasizing that the Tennessee defensive back “maintains his complete innocence” in the situation.

“Mr. McCollough is cooperating fully with both the University of Tennessee and Knoxville Police Department investigations into these allegations,” said Akers, per the Knoxville News Sentinel. “He looks forward to a speedy resolution of this matter and maintains his complete innocence.”

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Moreover, McCollough is in his fourth season as a starting safety for the Volunteers, and has recorded 23 tackles so far this year. He has played all 40 games since the beginning of his true freshman season in 2019.

According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, the police report states the incident occurred Sunday afternoon at 3:28 p.m. ET. A man said he had been drinking with friends at an apartment complex when he went to retrieve items from his vehicle. He returned to the building and went to the wrong apartment, knocking on McCollough’s door instead of his friends’.

When no one answered, the man stated that he stepped inside the apartment. He immediately realized it was the wrong one and apologized, turning to leave before being pursued by an unknown male, presumed to be McCollough. 

The man said he apologized once again, but also told McCollough he “didn’t have to be a (expletive) about it.” The man then tried to leave, but was struck in the face and fell down a staircase before losing consciousness. He later regained consciousness as he said a male and female helped him to his feet.

Police said when McCollough returned to the scene, his right hand was in bandages, with blood showing on his hand, according to the report. The report also described the other man as having a bloody, swollen mouth and missing teeth when they arrived, and said police discovered blood on the staircase.

McCollough was taken into custody and did not answer any questions at the scene.

On3’s Stephen Samra and Chandler Vessels contributed to this report