Latest Vol drama: Tennessee DE Darrell Taylor suspended, reportedly for a fight during practice

The Tennessee Volunteers are coming off a bye, but it wasn’t exactly a quiet news week in Knoxville. On Monday morning, VolQuest.com reported that Tennessee defensive end Darrell Taylor is suspended indefinitely following a fight on the practice field last Thursday:

Taylor and freshman offensive lineman Trey Smith got into a scuffle at practice last Thursday, with Taylor kicking Smith in the face. The blow required Smith to receive stitches.

After being ejected for fighting in the second half against Georgia on Sept. 30, Taylor was already suspended for the first half of Saturday’s game against South Carolina but Jones has extended the suspension indefinitely following his actions Thursday morning on the practice field.

ESPN’s Chris Low later confirmed the suspension, and added that Smith needed stitches. Later that afternoon, Jones confirmed Taylor’s suspension.

Kicking a teammate in the face isn’t exactly the best look for Tennessee. A few weeks ago, a Tennessee beat reporter was told that defensive tackle Shy Tuttle and safety Nigel Warrior missed the UMass game because Warrior had punched Tuttle in the face. When Jones was asked specifically about this, he said football is an emotional game before saying the injury was caused by Tuttle landing on a helmet. He then went on a rant about the media:

“I think we have to understand, what do we want out of our media? This place with the drama, and again, these are kids and I think we all have children and we’re all adults, Jones said as transcribed by Gridiron Now. “Are we focused on Tennessee football from a recruiting standpoint, from all the positive things we’ve done, from all the positive things this football program brings to the community, this great fan base? Are we in the reality world of TV?

“I think all of us as human have to self-check ourselves, and you may not like that answer, but I’m a father, I have three boys and I think we sometimes got to put ourselves in a role of a parent as well. And I understand we all have jobs to do. My expectations as the head football coach, I’m the caretaker of Tennessee football.

“I’m here to develop and grow the football program, recruit the best possible student-athletes to represent the University of Tennessee and win football games and graduate our players. That’s my responsibility. I take that very seriously. But also, I love our kids and I’m going to protect our players and I’m going to protect our programs. Sometimes the negativity is overwhelming.

“If everyone is Vols fans, how do we let our opponents use this in the recruiting process with fake news? Sometimes, again, we have to check ourselves. What are we here for? What’s our values and principles that guide our life every single day? And I appreciate everyone in this room.

“You guys have a job to do, and I’m respectful of that. I’m friends with a lot of you guys in the room and I appreciate it, but also there comes a certain time where enough is enough. So, thank you. You guys have a great day. I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday. Go Vols.”

Next up for Tennessee this week is South Carolina, which beat the Vols 24-21 last season at home.