Tennessee QB Joe Milton was able to recover from an under-the-radar injury during bye week
The bye week was incredibly beneficial for Tennessee Vols quarterback Joe Milton, who has been banged up quite a bit during the first month of the 2023 season. Fans already knew that Milton has been dealing with a knee injury that he suffered in Tennessee's win against UTSA last month. Milton downplayed the knee injury […]
The bye week was incredibly beneficial for Tennessee Vols quarterback Joe Milton, who has been banged up quite a bit during the first month of the 2023 season.
Fans already knew that Milton has been dealing with a knee injury that he suffered in Tennessee's win against UTSA last month.
Milton downplayed the knee injury after the Vols' win against UTSA and he took every offensive snap in Tennessee's win against South Carolina the following weekend. But if you watched the UTSA game, it was evident when Milton went down that his knee was hurting pretty bad.
That knee injury apparently isn't the only ailment that Milton's been dealing with this season.
VolQuest's Brent Hubbs appeared on 104.5 The Zone's "Ramon, Kayla, and Will" on Friday morning and he noted that Milton has been dealing with some some ribs from a shot he took in Tennessee's Week 2 win against Austin Peay.
"It (the bye week) was important for Joe," said Hubbs. "Joe Milton's had the knee tweak a little bit. He's had some sore ribs that nobody's really talked about from a shot he took in week 2. He's gonna have to use his feet some in this game…I don't think they have to call 10 runs for him or anything like that. But he's got to help his offensive line out. If you have a protection issue, or they cover you and progression one and two's covered, it's not a bad thing to tuck and run for three yards to make it second-and-seven instead of second-and-13. So you got to be smart there. He's got to take what they give him. So I think it was important for him to get healed up a little bit."
Hubbs also noted that defensive lineman Omar Norman-Lott also got a chance to get healthy this week while noting that he likely would not have played last week had the Vols had a game instead of the bye week.
As for Milton, it's clear that he's battling through some stuff early this season. But he's not interested in using those injuries as an excuse, which is certainly admirable (he's been a great leader for the Vols — even while backing up Hendon Hooker last season).
Now that he's a bit healthier, maybe we'll see Milton use his legs and his elite size more in situations where plays go awry. Milton's ability to use his legs could end up being the difference against Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.
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