Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel hasn't named a starting quarterback yet.

And he doesn't appear to be in a hurry to announce that one of the quarterbacks competing — Joe Milton, Harrison Bailey, and Hendon Hooker — has won the job.

That's despite most of the signs out of fall camp pointing toward Milton winning the job.

Milton has been praised by assistants and players for his strong arm and ability to win games with his legs. While the job is still technically open, it's starting to feel like it's Milton's job to lose.

Heupel, however, is doing his best to quiet the speculation and keep the starting quarterback a secret for as long as possible (or at least until he thinks it needs to be revealed).

On Tuesday, Heupel spoke to reporters and was a bit vaguer in his assessment of Tennessee's quarterbacks than he's typically been lately.

“I like the growth from that group from day to day," said Heupel. "But, you know you just see from the first scrimmage to the second scrimmage, who they are, and the practices leading up to today. That group is continuing to go in the right direction.”

“It’s good to continue to see those guys compete,” added Heupel. “Obviously we’ll go back later today and have the opportunity to watch the scrimmage. I think those guys have all continued to grow throughout the course of the three-day block before our scrimmage today.”

Heupel noted that Tennessee's offense had a couple of nice touchdowns during the scrimmage in Neyland Stadium on Tuesday morning, but he declined to say which quarterback was leading the offense for either score.

It seems obvious that Heupel isn't trying to fuel any quarterback rumors right now. And that's smart — even though we have a good idea of who the starting quarterback will be.

Heupel isn't ready for this competition to be over, so he wants all three quarterbacks to continue competing at a high level.

(Heupel said on Tuesday there was no update on quarterback Brian Maurer, who hasn't practiced with the team since last week.)

So when will Heupel name a starter?

It sounds like whenever the mood strikes him.

"When we see separation…[when] we’re ready to say something and I’ll come down here and do that," said Heupel.

So far, I think Heupel is handling this quarterback battle quite well.

It's not his fault that we (the media) feel as though we've seen enough to determine that Milton will likely be the starter against Bowling Green on September 2.

Could we be wrong?

Of course. We're wrong all the time. But it certainly doesn't feel like that will be the case in this situation.

Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel via Imagn Content Services