Josh Heupel updates the injury timeline for Tennessee linebacker Keenan Pili

The timeline for return for injured Tennessee middle linebacker Keenan Pili will be determined “over the next couple of weeks,” according to head coach Josh Heupel. The BYU transfer suffered an upper-body injury during the 49-13 win over Virginia on Saturday in Nashville.

“(I) anticipate as we go over the next couple weeks, we’ll kind of figure out what the timeline is for him,” Heupel said Wednesday night during his weekly appearance on The Vol Network’s ‘Vol Calls.’ “Hopefully we’re able to get him back here in the middle part of the season. But (he’s) someone that you just hate it for (him).”

Heupel on Wednesday confirmed a report from Volquest’s Brent Hubbs that Pili will be out multiple weeks after sustaining the injury on Saturday.

“We weren’t sure early in the week the severity of the injury,” Heupel said. “He will not be available this week. He’ll miss a couple weeks here.”

No. 9 Tennessee (1-0) hosts Austin Peay (0-1) on Saturday (5 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+/SEC Network+) in the home opener at Neyland Stadium. The Vols open SEC play next Saturday at Florida, a 7 p.m. ET start on ESPN at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville.

“He was excited,” Heupel said of Pili. “He wanted to play inside of (Neyland Stadium). He wanted to go through the Vol Walk. And you hate that he’s not gonna have the opportunity here for a couple weeks, to not be on the field.”

Heupel was asked Wednesday on the SEC Coaches Teleconference if it would be a short-term injury or a long-term issue.

“I don’t believe it’s season ending at this point,” he said. “We’ll see how he continues to heal up in the coming days and weeks.”

Keenan Pili had four tackles, played 30 snaps in win over Virginia

Pili finished Saturday’s game against Virginia with four tackles, including two solo tackles. He earned a game ball after the win, after playing 30 snaps, fourth most on the team. His 80.0 grade from Pro Football Focus was also fourth highest for the Vols in Week 1. 

The 6-foot-3, 233-pound Pili spent the last four years at BYU. He had 191 tackles in 34 career games at BYU, including 62 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 sacks in 12 games last season. He had 13.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks during his time with the Cougars. 

Pili, a native of Provo, Utah, was a three-star prospect in the 2016 recruiting cycle out of Timpview High School. He was ranked No. 107 among linebackers in the class and No. 12 overall in the state of Utah. 

“We hate it for Keenan and hate it for us too, but most of all for Keenan,” Heupel said Wednesday night on ‘Vol Calls.’ “Another guy that comes from the transfer portal. As a player, he’s better than I anticipated. He continued to grow in his football movement.

“He’s extremely smart and bright, became a great team leader too. He is really mature. He came in and worked for it and then, grew to have a voice and I hate that (loss) for us on the defensive side of the football.”

Up Next: No. 9 Tennessee vs. Austin Peay, 5 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks during his press conference on Tuesday was asked what Pili did against Virginia to earn a game ball from his coaches. He said it was more of a reflection of who Pili has been since he got to Knoxville.

“Just everything that he brought to practice since he’s been here,” Banks said. “Just great leadership, communication, which was talked about earlier.”

Pili was one of the biggest surprises of the offseason, adding a veteran presence, size and athleticism to Tennessee’s linebacker room.

“Just having the ability to command the defense,” Banks said on Tuesday. “Making sure the front is where needs to be, communicating with (Aaron) Beasly. Making sure everybody’s where they need to be at all times is the number one thing. And just his overall physicality with the size that he has. 

“You want big guys, but obviously in this day and age you have to be able to function in space and he’s able to do those things for us, so we’re very pleased with what he brought, just his overall toughness and smart and communication skills. We’re excited for him. We really are.”