The Vols got bad news this morning when they learned that dynamic wide receiver Jauan Jennings suffered a dislocated wrist in last night’s game and will miss up to 12 weeks. Volquest.com is citing sources in saying that Jennings will have surgery this afternoon.
Jennings had three catches for 17 yards in last night’s 42-41 win over Georgia Tech. He was also, of course, the guy who had the huge go-ahead touchdown catch against Florida last year and the Hail Mary catch to beat Georgia last season.
Back in early August, we ranked Jennings third on our list of offensive players who had to stay healthy, so we think this is a huge blow to the team, especially on the heels of the news last week that linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. would also be out for the season. Kirkland was tied for first on our list of defensive players who needed to stay healthy. So, after one game, the Vols have already lost two of the five players they could least afford to lose.
Best wishes to Jennings for a speedy and full recovery. Now, it is time for the rest of the receiving corps to step up. Marquez Callaway, who had four huge catches and two touchdowns last night after Jennings went down, has already started down that path, but the team will need others to step up as well. Josh Smith may be back from his own injury soon, and the team is optimistic about guys like Josh Palmer and Tyler Byrd contributing as well.