No one in the Tennessee Vols’ locker room is going to blame last weekend’s overtime loss to the Georgia Bulldogs on injuries, but it’s accurate to say that UT is a banged up football team right now.

The Vols were without numerous key players against Georgia, including cornerbacks Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson, offensive lineman David Sanders Jr, and defensive linemen Jaxson Moi and Daevin Hobbs.

McCoy, a potential first round selection in the 2026 NFL Draft, is still recovering from the torn ACL he suffered while training during the offseason.

VolQuest’s Austin Price joined 99.1 The Sports Animal on Wednesday and he shared the latest update on when McCoy could return to action for the Volunteers.

“Jermod McCoy, I think you look at October as the earliest (for his return),” said Price.

“I think they (Tennessee) went into the season preparing as if Jermod McCoy wouldn’t play at all,” continued Price. “Because, you know, he had the ACL thing. Now, again, he progressed quicker and he’s gotten better, and he’s been on the field. He’s not done team stuff yet, but he’s been coming along, and it certainly feels like he’s going to play.”

Tennessee plays UAB on Saturday before taking on Mississippi State on the road to close out the month of September.

The Vols have a bye the first weekend in October before hosting Arkansas on October 11. It sounds like that’s the earliest that McCoy could return.

Austin Price shares more Tennessee Vols injury updates

Price also shared some updates on Tennessee’s other injured players.

The longtime Vols insider noted that Gibson, who suffered an injury in Tennessee’s season-opening win against Syracuse, could be out for the rest of the season.

“I don’t know if Rickey Gibson will be back at all this year,” said Price.

“Is it possible if Tennessee played deep enough into the season that [Gibson] could be back? I do think that’s the case,” continued Price. “But again, I think a lot of it depends on how quickly a player heals. Some kids heal faster. Some kids heal slower.”

Price added that he thinks Moi and Hobbs could be back on the field before the end of September, though he doesn’t think that either will play against UAB.

“I think Tennessee can get the defensive linemen back for next week (against Mississippi State),” said Price. “I don’t think either one of them [will] play this week…I think Moi definitely plays next week. Daevin Hobbs, we’ll see.”

As for Sanders, that continues to be a day by day situation.

“David is champing at the bit to get back,” explained Price. “This is all in the hands of the medical people, and it is a guessing game. It could be next week, it could be a month. You just don’t know when he’ll be back. But obviously, people around David really want him out there to play. David wants to be out there to play, and we’ll see where things go from there.”

Price noted that Sanders is dealing with a “shoulder/nerve type deal”.

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