A rested Crompton is throwing

The freshman quarterback returned to summer workouts on Monday, two weeks after Tennessee trainers told the Waynesville, N.C., product to rest his sore shoulder for at least a month.

"He threw yesterday (Monday) in the seven-on-seven (drills)," said David Crompton, Jonathan's father. "I guess it went OK. He's not going to say a whole lot. But I think it went really well.

"He told me it wasn't sore and it wasn't hurting. They limited him to about 25 to 30 throws in the seven-on-seven. He just wanted to get out there and play. That's all he cared about."

Crompton's sore shoulder was a result of too much throwing leading up to UT's voluntary summer workouts, according to UT's training staff.

David Crompton said his son seemed determined to throw after missing a workout with former Vol Peyton Manning last week. Manning, a two-time MVP quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, was in town for his golf tournament and worked out with several UT players.

"That was a frustrating week for him," David Crompton said. "One of the reasons he wanted to go to Tennessee was to get that knowledge from people like Peyton.

"I think he felt like a fifth wheel there for a little bit. That's a learning and growing experience for him because he's always been the man and he's not the man right now."

In order to be "the man", Jonathan Crompton has worked hard to prepare himself for this season. Resting a sore arm was not in his plans.

"He hasn't stopped throwing, besides a one week period, in the last three years," David Crompton said. "He's learning you've got to stretch and monitor yourself. I guess he just overdid it a little bit when he got down there.

"He takes his medicine and does the rehab and does what they tell him to do. I hope it'll be fine. I think it'll be fine or they wouldn't have let him throw yesterday (Monday)."

Crompton has a tough road aheadto compete for playing time in 2005. UT has two returning quarterbacks, senior Rick Clausen and sophomore Erik Ainge, who were successful in meaningful games last season.

"They're not going to give anybody anything," David Crompton said. "They never promised Jonathan anything. They're one of the few schools that didn't promise him anything. They said he was going to get a chance to compete and we'll see how that plays out. That's out of my hands."