Tennessee starting LB to miss ‘a couple weeks’ due to injury, per HC Josh Heupel

Tennessee starting linebacker Keenan Pili, who transferred from BYU this past offseason, will miss “a couple of weeks” with an injury. Josh Heupel confirmed the news Wednesday during the SEC’s weekly teleconference.

Pili totaled 4 tackles against Virginia in Week 1 at the middle linebacker spot for the Vols. Tennessee fans will be relieved to hear that Heupel does not believe Pili’s injury is season-ending but failed to delve further into the specifics.

“We weren’t sure earlier in the week the severity of the injury,” Heupel said. “He will not be available this week. He’ll miss a couple weeks here.”

Tennessee linebacker Keenan Pili will “miss a couple of weeks” due to injury, according to Josh Heupel on the SEC Teleconference.

“Don’t believe it’s season-ending at this point.”

Tough blow for the #Vols.

— Ben McKee (@benmckee14) September 6, 2023

Pili being out means more snaps for freshman Arion Carter or sophomore Elijah Herring, both of whom have potential at the position. Carter was a name that generated a lot of buzz out of preseason camp and Herring has shown flashes of being a very strong player at linebacker for Tennessee.

Linebacker is definitely a position of strength for Tennessee, even without Pili for a few weeks. The obvious question here is how long Pili will be out.

Tennessee has a few sneaky games upcoming. UTSA comes to town after the Vols head to Florida to take on the Gators in the Swamp. It would be in Tennessee’s best interest for Pili to return ahead of the Vols’ Oct. 14 matchup against Texas A&M, especially considering Alabama looms on October 21 in Tuscaloosa.

Ethan Stone

Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.