Vol on Vol crime? Two of Tennessee’s most impactful players under Josh Heupel could be on a collision course on Friday night
Two former Vols should be front and center in the action
Two very notable Tennessee Volunteers and former teammates will be taking the field on opposite sides of the line of scrimmage on Friday night, and their paths could literally collide.
The Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons meet in the latter’s 2025 preseason opener in Atlanta. It will mark the first preseason action for Falcons DE and former Vols standout James Pearce, Jr. Head coach Raheem Morris confirmed that Atlanta’s first round pick will indeed play on Friday night.
The man he will likely be trying to chase down is his former Tennessee teammate from 2022 in QB Hendon Hooker, who will be getting the start for the Lions. Detroit dropped their opener 34-7 last Thursday in the Hall of Fame Game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Hooker and Kyle Allen both struggled mightily, with Hooker calling his performance a “zero out of ten”.
The first preseason is a bit wonky in that you often don’t know exactly when a player is going to be going into the game – in some cases if at all. However, Hooker and Allen are in a tight battle for the QB2 spot, so both should play, and it’s likely Pearce, Jr. will get some first half reps. That would mean that the former Vol will likely be trying to chase down and drop Hooker.
It’s a situation, as a Tennessee fan, where you would hope that Pearce, Jr. is able to get some pressure on Hooker, but for the latter to still make some plays to boost his chances of securing the QB2 job behind Jared Goff – and, to speak the obvious, for both to avoid any kind of injury.
We’ll see what happens at 7:00 pm ET, when toe meets leather inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
