Absence of Watson, McFadgon alters workout

After taking Tuesday off, the Vols returned to the practice court on Wednesday missing two of their three co-captains, C.J. Watson or Scooter McFadgon.

"C.J. went home (to Las Vegas) for personal reasons," Peterson said. "If he wants to elaborate more on that I'll let him.

"This is something that sprung up two weeks ago. It's more family matters that he has there."

Watson went to Las Vegas on Sunday and was supposed to return to Knoxville on Wednesday night.

Peterson said Watson is expected to be back at practice today and his absence will have no impact on his status for Saturday's game at Mississippi.

McFadgon, suffering from a sprained left wrist and a thigh bruise, also had an excused absence.

"Scooter is just banged up," Peterson said. "Wrist and a thigh bruise, so he's just getting treatment on that. There was no use in him going today."

Peterson said he wasn't sure if McFadgon would be ready to return to practice today.

"Today, what I wanted to do for about an hour and 20 minutes was get in some cardiovascular, get some shots going and get them back in the mood," Peterson said. "You don't have those two in practice, it changes some things you can do."

Watson has also been concerned with an ongoing hamstring problem and Peterson said one of the reasons his junior point guard wanted to go home was to get a second opinion on the injury.

"It's the ugliest thing," Peterson said. "But he'll be fine. He just plays through it and it's something he'll always have to do in his career.

"His parents got a little concerned about that."

Peterson has had his own issues, battling flu symptoms during a recruiting trip to Memphis on Tuesday. Assistant coach Ed Conroy also was absent from practice to attend the funeral of a family member.