The Vols felt great about the TE position during spring practice.

Senior Mychal Rivera was healthy and looking like an All-SEC candidate. Sophomore Cameron Clear and Brendan Downs were developing nicely. Freshman Justin Meredith enrolled early and was getting a head start on the offense despite what appeared to be a minor hamstring injury. 

Coach Derek Dooley had a different assessment over the weekend after a rough few months hit the position

"We're in trouble there," he said.

There are several reasons why. Here's a timeline of all that has plagued the Vols' TEs since spring practice:

  • May 25: Clear is dismissed from the program after being charged with theft.
  • Aug. 7: Rivera goes down with a sprained knee. Dooley says he will be out just a week, but he remains in a red, noncontact jersey and is extremely limited in practice.
  • Aug. 10: Ex-DT Joseph Ayres moves to TE to add depth.
  • Aug. 17: Ayres (ankle) and Downs (patella) are injured in the second scrimmage. Dooley announces the next day that Downs will miss a significant chunk of the season.
  • Aug. 19: Ex-LB Greg King is moved to TE. King, a redshirt junior, hasn't played TE since high school. He caught one pass in his prep career as a TE.

In addition, Meredith's hamstring injury is still bothering him and doesn't appear to be getting better.

So what now? FB Ben Bartholomew has adopted a hybrid FB/TE role. Ex-LB Justin King was brought over to help out at FB with Bartholomew focusing more on TE. Rivera and Meredith are practicing, but nobody knows exactly how healthy they'll be when the Vols take on NCState in the season opener on Aug. 31. King is working there, but it will be a challenge for him to learn the whole offense in two weeks.

Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, a former TEs coach for the St. Louis Rams, said the Vols will take an NFL-like approach to the situation. 

“In the NFL you might keep two tight ends and a fullback active, so you're dealing with three people," he said. "That might be about where we're at. I don't want to let an injury change our complete identity of what we become.”

For more up-to-the minute news and analysis from SEC bloggers Larry Hartstein and Daniel Lewis, follow @CBSSportsSEC.