Jermod McCoy making impact felt off field as Tennessee waits for his return

Jermod McCoy is doing everything he can in his rehab process, still trying to come back from the torn ACL he suffered during offseason training in January. That includes the impact he’s making for the Tennessee secondary off the field, according to Willie Martinez. 

“Mod is the same dude that he was when he (first) came on campus,” Martinez, Tennessee’s defensive backs coach, said during his press conference on Tuesday. “He works every day. He’s preparing every day to play. And he’s on course to whatever that is.”

McCoy returned to the practice field to do individual drills in late August, but No. 11 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) is still waiting for his return as the Vols go to No. 6 Alabama (5-1, 3-0) Saturday night (7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ABC) to face the Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

Jermod McCoy ‘involved each and every day’ with Tennessee defensive backs

“He’s engaged every single day in our meetings,” Martinez said. “There’s nothing really different other than him not playing on game day. He’s doing a great job. He’s obviously grown a lot from a standpoint in our package, knowing our defense. 

“He’s involved each and every day, whether it’s Ty Redmond, whether it’s any one of those young guys or even Colton (Hood), who’s in his first year. So he’s doing well.”

Hood, the Colorado transfer, has starred at corner in his first season at Tennessee, helping fill the vacancy left by McCoy. Redmond has done his part as a freshman to replace Rickey Gibson III, who was lost to an upper-body injury in the Week 1 win over Syracuse. 

“They’re doing a really good job on the edges, really are,” Martinez said of Hood and Redmond. “They’ve been very consistent. They’ve made a bunch of plays. And you can’t play defense if you don’t have those guys on the outside that can force the offense to go a different direction. And I think they’re doing a good job. 

“… Obviously Ty being young, his first year, we’re really excited how he’s really continuing to grow each and every week.”

‘He’s got more to go. I think it’s all about him being prepared to go play’

As for McCoy, the timetable remains uncertain moving forward. Head coach Josh Heupel said last week that he had “more to go” in his rehab process.

“Jermod continues to do a great job in his rehab with our medical staff, our strength staff,” Heupel said at the time. “Somebody told me there was a report out there of a certain ball game that he’s focused in on as far as returning. I think that’s unfair. Whoever put that out there, I don’t think truly understands Jermod and the situation. He’s done a really good job.

“He’s got more to go. I think it’s all about him being prepared to go play. There’s a lot of things that go into that. You look at the position he plays, all the reactionary work that you have to have in so you are always balancing his ability to be prepared and (his) short-term, long-term health as well.”