Tennessee tight end Chris Brown is getting a lesson in patience and perseverance this season.

As the Vols' offense struggles, Brown waits for more passes to come his way. He has nine catches for 91 yards in eight games.

"It's frustrating, but you know, things haven't gone right for anybody this year," Brown says. "The team hasn't done well, we haven't done as well as we expected, so it's frustrating, but now I'm just going to sit here and be patient. My time will come."

His statistics are hardly indicative of his talents.

Brown, a sophomore, is an excellent route runner for a tight end, and he has good pass-catching abilities. As a high school senior in Destrehan, La., Brown caught 43 passes for 900 yards and seven touchdowns. He had nine catches, including three touchdowns, for 180 yards in a state playoff game.

Brown says being a good route runner is in large part natural ability, but it also takes knowing defenses and studying opponents.

"You have to know where the defenders are," Brown said. "You have to know what kind of defense they're playing, if they're pressing you, if they're backing off. You just have to know everything about what they're doing, you have to know their tendencies and how they play you and just where to push and where to stick your routes to get open."

Brown, also a basketball standout in high school, started three games for UT last season and caught six passes for 74 yards and a touchdown.

His first catch for UT was a 20-yarder for a touchdown against South Carolina. He said his skills as a route-runner have improved since he came to UT.

"Since I've gotten to Tennessee my (footwork) has gotten better and it's just started to come more natural. You know, just getting open and wanting the ball," he said.

Brown isn't pointing his finger at anyone for his shortage of catches.

"Tight ends, we've worked hard to get back to where we are, and to get open and all that stuff, but things just haven't been going our way at all as an offense this whole season," he said. "So you can't sit here and pinpoint anything about it. We just haven't been getting the job done and things haven't been going our way."

Perhaps that will change. Until it does, Brown will be patient and persevere.