Josh Heupel gives injury update on Juwan Mitchell

Tennessee will be without linebacker Juwan Mitchell for the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury. Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel delivered the unfortunate news on Monday.

“Juwan (Mitchell), of the guys that were not able to play last week, is the one guy—he is the one guy—that will not be with us on Saturday,” Heupel told media. “A majority of them have an opportunity to get back and play for us. Juwan will be out here for the rest of the season, had shoulder surgery, so he will not be with us.”

Mitchell, who transferred to Tennessee from Texas after leading the Longhorns in tackles in 2020, missed three of Tennessee’s last four games. In three appearances this season, Juwan Mitchell recorded eight tackles. He was two years of eligibility remaining.

In Mitchell’s absence, Tennessee has relied upon a three-man rotation of  Aaron Beasley, Jeremy Banks and Solon Page III. Through six games, Banks is the third leading tackler for the Volunteers, with 33 tackles, seven tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Beasley and Page have 31 and 24 tackles apiece on the season. Page also returned an interception for a touchdown.

Juwan Mitchell enrolled at Tennessee over the summer after two seasons at Texas and a season at Butler Community College. At Butler, Mitchell led all freshmen at Butler in tackles and tackles for loss with 55 and 7.5.

On Saturday, Tennessee defeated South Carolina 45-20 and quarterback Hendon Hooker has earned his teammates’ trust after back-to-back strong performances.

“Hendon’s continuing to grow into us offensively to have complete command of what we’re doing. That’s in the run game, that’s fun, the pass game, it’s understanding protections,” Heupel said. “You can see that we trust the ball in his hands in certain situations, too, and continues to grow and take great care of the football, has great command and the players have responded to him in a really positive way.”

Against the Gamecocks, Hooker completed 17 of his 23 pass attempts for 266 passing yards, while tossing in three touchdown passes and no interceptions. On the ground, the transfer from Virginia Tech had 20 rushes for 66 rushing yards, while running for one touchdown.

Through five games, Hooker ranks fifth in the nation in passing efficiency rating with a rating of 182.46. So far this season, he’s completed 61 of his 89 passing attempts for 838 passing yards, while tossing in 10 touchdown passes and just one interception.