The Tennessee Vols have some injury concerns ahead of this weekend’s matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs.

Tennessee has already ruled out cornerbacks Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson for the Georgia game. Defensive lineman Daevin Hobbs has also been ruled out for Saturday.

The Vols are hoping that defensive lineman Jaxson Moi can return to action on Saturday against the Bulldogs. Moi was injured in Tennessee’s season-opening win against Syracuse.

VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs joined 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will on Friday, and he shared the latest on Moi’s status for the game against Georgia.

“I think Jaxson Moi is going to do everything he can to go,” said Hubbs. “And I say that based on what I saw in the Syracuse game. He went in and out of the injury tent a couple of times and tried different wraps and tried different things to see if he could handle the pain of whatever he’s dealing with — with the arm issue — and he just couldn’t do it. I think he is going to try everything he can [to play].

“Now, can he be effective? Can he get through warm-ups somewhat pain free, and think he can be able to play? I don’t know. We’ll see. They may end up ruling him out tonight. I would be surprised if that’s the direction that the injury report goes. But I think Moi is going to do everything he can to try to play this game. He’s told people that his plan is to play, but he’s been limited this week. So I think that’s truly not coach speak. I truly think that’s going to be a game-time decision.”

Will true freshman offensive lineman David Sanders Jr play for the Tennessee Vols against the Georgia Bulldogs?

Another injured player who has a chance to play for the Vols this week is true freshman offensive tackle David Sanders Jr.

Sanders, a former five-star recruit, hasn’t played yet this season after getting banged up in practice a couple of days before the season-opener against Syracuse.

The expectation was that Sanders would make his debut last weekend against East Tennessee State, but that wasn’t the case.

“I don’t know that he’s going to be cleared to play,” said Hubbs on Friday when asked about Sanders. “I would lean towards him more likely [being] not cleared to play then cleared to play, based on just my feeling of kind of the vibe this week. But we’ll see. I mean, obviously, he’s not been ruled out.

“I think if he is cleared to play, I don’t think he’s starting. And here’s my rationale — I don’t think he’s practiced enough. If he were a three-year veteran who had 15 starts under his belt and he missed most of the week of practice, you would say, OK, plug him in there and go. I’m not sure how ready he is to play if you clear him to play on Friday or tomorrow morning. He’s done more on the practice field this week than he did last week, or since the injury occurred the week of the Syracuse game, but he’s still not been out there taking every snap with the first team. I don’t know if he’s ready to play if he goes through a week where he doesn’t do that (practice), given the fact that he’s such a young player.”

Tennessee is in a tough spot with Sanders. He’s easily one of the Vols’ most talented offensive linemen, but he’s never played in a college football game. Sanders needs to play to develop, but debuting against Georgia’s stout defensive front isn’t exactly ideal. If Sanders is cleared to play, it’ll be interesting to see how Tennessee’s coaching staff manages his snaps against the Bulldogs.

Tennessee and Georgia are set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in Knoxville.

Update:

On3’s Chris Low reported on Friday that Sanders is not expected to play against Georgia.

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