Report: Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar undergoes surgery to remove benign tumor

Tennessee Football quarterback Joey Aguilar on Friday had successful surgery to remove a benign tumor that was pushing on his bicep tendon and labrum, according to a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Citing sources, Rapoport added that the issue had caused weakness and pain for Aguilar.

“Aguilar kept the situation quiet,” Rapoport wrote, “but handled it today. Full recovery in 8 weeks.”

Aguilar this season threw for 3,565 yards with 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He completed 272 of 404 pass attempts, giving him a career-high completion percentage of 67.3 percent. 

Joey Aguilar is third on Tennessee single-season passing list

The 3,565 yards puts him third all time in single-season pass yards at Tennessee. Peyton Manning holds the record at 3,819 yards in 1997 and Tyler Bray is second at 3,612. Aguilar in the Music City Bowl passed Erik Ainge, who had 3,522 in 2007.

Aguilar’s future remains uncertain after it was reported last month that he was one of 26 former junior college players who added their names as plaintiffs to Diego Pavia’s lawsuit, which was initially filed in November 2024 seeking additional eligibility for those who previously played junior college football. 

“My answer is still my answer,” Aguilar said earlier this month, “just focus on the season and pursue what I want to pursue afterwards.” 

Aguilar, who spent the previous two seasons at Appalachian State, played two seasons at Diablo Community College in California, which could leave him with added eligibility for 2026 should the lawsuit be decided in favor of Aguilar and the other plaintiffs. 

That’s why Aguilar has had no detailed answer on what’s next.

“I guess I’ll figure that out after the bowl game,” he said.

Heupel said during bowl prep in December that he didn’t have a deadline in place for an answer from his quarterback. 

“I don’t have a specific date at this time,” Heupel said.

Josh Heupel ‘couldn’t be more thankful’ for Joey Aguilar

It was a whirlwind seven months at Tennessee for Aguilar, the Antioch, Calif., native. He arrived in Knoxville in May after transferring from UCLA, where he had transferred to in December. He went back in the portal after the Bruins added Tennessee transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava. 

What Heupel does know is how grateful is he to have had Aguilar this season, both on the field and off.

“Couldn’t be more thankful for who he has been from the moment that he set foot here,” Heupel said. “That’s being a teammate and caring about the guys around him, the culture inside the locker room. And then certainly the player.

“His ability in a really short amount of time to grasp what we’re doing offensively,” Heupel added, “go play and execute at a really high level. (He was a) big part of our offensive and team success this year. Couldn’t have had somebody come in May and do it any better.”