The Vols hit the field Tuesday afternoon for their first practice of the week. They’ll practice again Thursday and Friday before closing spring practice with the Orange and White game Saturday at 3 pm.

Notes

*Former head coach Phillip Fulmer was in attendance for practice Tuesday afternoon. He’s been around the program fairly frequently since Butch Jones took the reins of the team.

*The Vols opened the practice with the three-man weave drill, you can see video below. A staple of fall camp, today was the first time I’ve seen them break it out this spring.

*Butch Jones intently watched punter Matt Darr during several drills. Darr had an extremely rough season last year. He’s always had a big leg, but struggled to consistently strike the football for much of 2013. He has shown improvement this spring and has been noticeably more consistent. Darr is the clear leader to win the punting job.

*Dimarya Mixon has been working with the second team at defensive tackle and has been one of the more physical linemen this spring. He’s knocking the rust off after a year away from football but is starting to show some playmaking ability. He had a big scrimmage Saturday and followed that up with another solid performance today. He made a tackle on a live 11-on-11 kick off drill and excelled at a few 1-on-1 drills. Don’t sleep on his ability. He’s tenacious at times and that’s hard to teach.

*Devrin Young worked as the starting kick returner and put together a couple lengthy returns. He’s the most sure-handed player the Vols have to field kicks and punts and, at least momentarily, is the leader for those two jobs. He continues to work a ton at running back and has been one of the most dynamic playmakers on the field.

*Tennessee’s nickel defense, which you will probably see them run more than their base 4-3 look, featured Maggitt at one end and Corey Vereen on the other. That’s a disruptive combination than most teams will struggle with. Jordan Williams and Owen Williams worked at tackle in nickel sets. Justin Coleman continues to solidify himself at nickel corner with Cam Sutton and Emmanuel Moseley at the other corner positions. The Vol secondary has been better this spring than it was at any point last year.

*Justin Worley got the only rep with the first team during the live 11-on-11 portion of practice open to the media. Riley Ferguson worked with the second team and easily drove the ball down the field on Tennessee’s reserves. He completed a pass for a first down to Daniel Helm on his lone drive. The Vols tight ends, no matter who starts, look to be much improved this season.

*Jason Croom was in a green jersey today but appeared to take part in nearly all of Tennessee’s contact drills.

Video