One of the biggest pieces of news that came out of the NFL scouting combine this past week was Tennessee Vols cornerback Jermod McCoy’s decision to not take part in on-field drills.

McCoy missed the 2025 season after tearing his ACL early last offseason.

The Texas native is viewed as one of the top players in the 2026 NFL Draft, but teams wanted to see the former Vol work out since he hasn’t played in game in over a year.

McCoy says he’s healthy, but he’s choosing to wait until his pro day at Tennessee to go through drills.

“I’m feeling good now,” said McCoy. “I’m ready to play again, to be honest with you.”

“I just want to make sure I’m putting the best thing out,” added McCoy of his decision to not work out at the combine. “Give me some more training time and do it all at my pro day.”

McCoy also spoke about how tough it was to deal with the injury and how he stay involved with the team while he was sidelined.

“I mean, it was tough,” said McCoy. “But I had a big leadership role in the room. So I couldn’t step away and kind of be distant — I had to make sure I was pouring into guys in the room. We had young guys that had to step up. I had to make sure that they understood the standard in the room.”

“In practices, after I got done with my workouts, I [would] come onto the practice field, and just when I see some guys doing [things], just trying to tell them what I’m seeing.”

One NFL teams is apparently ruling out Jermod McCoy in the 2026 NFL Draft

The Dallas Cowboys are a team that would seemingly make a lot of sense for McCoy.

Cornerback is a big need for the Cowboys this offseason, and McCoy grew up just two hours east of Dallas in Whitehouse.

The Star-Telegram’s Nick Harris, however, noted Monday that he’s crossing McCoy’s name off the Cowboys’ draft board based on intel he heard at the combine in Indianapolis.

“There are a lot of names on the draft board heading into April that could make sense with one of the two first-round picks,” wrote Harris. “One name that I’m crossing off based on information this week: Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy.”

It’s possible that Dallas was scared off by McCoy not working out this week. It’s worth noting that former Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs suffered a torn ACL in 2023, which could impact the team’s view of McCoy.

Either way, it sounds like McCoy won’t be playing for Dallas in 2026.

Tennessee Volunteers News

Tennessee’s ‘human car wash’ is turning heads: Former Vol details elite perk, ‘I see why dudes don’t leave college’

The Tennessee Vols are going all out to take care of student-athletes.

Zach Ragan