Jeremy Pruitt started his press conference Saturday evening, following Tennessee’s closed scrimmage at Neyland Stadium, by answering a question about JJ Peterson.

No, the coveted linebacker signee isn’t in Knoxville yet. Yes, Pruitt and the Vols want him here yesterday, but he’s still finishing up the required academic work before he can enroll at Tennessee.



Pruitt was asked about quarterbacks and said all four candidates for the starting job got a chance in the 131-play scrimmage because “we feel like they deserve it.” Playing four quarterbacks, though, creates a lack of continuity that isn’t “fair” to the offense, according to the head coach.



He was asked about injuries, too.



Jauan Jennings was part of the scrimmage but Pruitt confirmed that linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. was held out for another maintenance day, despite saying Kirkland “wanted to (scrimmage), he felt great.”



Finally, Pruitt was asked what he took away as the positive from the second scrimmage of fall camp.



“You know, to start the scrimmage, I really felt like the offensive line kind of dominated the scrimmage,” Pruitt said, “with the ones and the twos, even the threes. They done a good job. You could see the line of scrimmage changing.”



When facing your own teammates in camp, it’s never 100 percent positive.



“That doesn’t say much about the defensive front,” Pruitt said of the offensive front’s success.



And there’s always a ‘but,’ especially following praise. This one concerned the end of the scrimmage, which wasn’t nearly as positive as the start.



“But as practice went,” Pruitt continued, “I felt like whether it’s the plays, whether it’s how hot it was or how many snaps guys have taken, you saw guys not performing at the end of practice like they were at the beginning.



“That’s not exactly what we’re looking for. We want to finish better than we start. We have to improve there.”



There were more critiques for the defensive front later in the press conference, when Pruitt was asked about the tackling issues that came up during last Sunday’s scrimmage.



“Unless we make every tackle, I’m never going to be happy with how we tackle,” Pruitt said. “And sometimes getting them on the ground, you might not be tackling the right way or playing with the right technique.



“We have a long ways to go until we are able to tackle the way we want to when it comes to fundamentals and technique. Our guys are working hard to improve on it; I can see them getting better at it and I see confidence in them.

“But we still have a long way to go.”



And that’s all before Pruitt got to watch the film.



“When we watch the tape,” he said, “we’ll have a better idea. I just know standing out on the field, you see the line of scrimmage move. It was good and bad.”

