Earlier this week Jason Mitchell didn't even know if he would play at Florida this Saturday.

On Thursday, Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer said Mitchell would not only go to Gainesville, but he would be starting again at outside linebacker.

"Jason is not out," Fulmer said. "He's going to start and he's going to play.

"We were concerned about it, but he has worked hard to get himself back."

Mitchell suffered an injury to his left knee in the Vols' opener two weeks ago against UAB.

He helped force a fumble, had five tackles and a quarterback hurry before the injury sent him to the sideline in the 17-10 victory against the Blazers.

Even UT defensive coordinator John Chavis said earlier in the week that Jerod Mayo would be his starter at outside linebacker.

But there was Mitchell, back on the practice field Thursday.

"Jason did everything and moved up to probable," Fulmer said. "He'll get some plays. I don't know how much, but that's good. It helps us a lot."

In case Mitchell is limited, Fulmer has no doubt Mayo will be ready to step in.

"I wish we had the same situation at every position, where we had a good starter with lots of experience and a good young player coming on like Jerod Mayo," Fulmer said.

Rough Practice: UT's final full day of preparation for No. 6-ranked Florida didn't go as well as Fulmer had hoped.

"We got through our Thursday practice, and that's about all I can say about it," he said. "We had too many things happen today. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't a good day overall.

"We've got to correct those mistakes we made. I think we're just tired of practicing. We need to play."

Fulmer wasn't reading too much into the sluggish workout.

"I've been in it long enough to know sometimes they have these days and play great," he said. "Sometimes they do everything right and then they go play poorly. It was OK, but not nearly what it needs to be.

"We'll be fine. We put a lot of things in the script, a lot of challenges. Sometimes we might do too much of that."

Who's Going?: UT released it's travel roster for Florida and noticeably absent was center David Ligon, offensive tackle Ell Ash and defensive lineman Vladimir Richard.

Ligon is still recovering from a high ankle sprain suffered in UT's first scrimmage. Ash and Richard were just victims of the 70-man roster numbers game.

"That's the 70," Fulmer said. "I'd love to take those guys, but when the SEC says 70, it's 70."

Eleven frosh: Noticeable on the travel roster were 11 true freshman making the trip: Lucas Taylor (receiver), Demetrice Morley (safety), Ricardo Kemp (defensive back), Montario Hardesty (tailback), Antonio Wardlow (defensive back), Jeff Cottam (tight end), Josh Briscoe (receiver), Wes Brown (defensive end), Austin Rogers (receiver), Demonte Bolden (defensive tackle) and Adam Myers-White (defensive back).

"We usually play about half of our freshmen and that's about half," Fulmer said. "A couple of them may not get in the game, but in an emergency kind of thing - we've got a couple of defensive linemen suspended (Tony McDaniel and Robert Ayers) - so we're taking Wes Brown.

"I don't anticipate him getting in the game, but he could if we have an injury or two."

Waiting On Bolden: Fulmer is still waiting for Bolden, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound freshman defensive lineman from Chattanooga, to hit stride mentally.

Asked if Bolden was pushing for playing time, Fulmer answered, "Not well enough.

"He's physically good enough, but he makes too many mistakes on the field. I'd love to get him in the game and get him some experience, but he'll get out of gap and get a long run on you or something like that. But he'll come around. He's working and he really wants to do well."

Mark Burgess may be reached at 865-342-6277.