Tennessee wide receiver Robert Meachem does his talking on the field in more ways than one.

Erik Ainge said he saw a difference in UT’s new go-to wideout during spring practice. It was most obvious when Meachem was trash-talking with his defensive teammates.

"He got mean again," UT’s junior quarterback said. "He stopped being timid. Sometimes Robert had the tendency to get a little timid."

Evidently, mean works. Meachem caught five passes for an NCAA-leading 182 yards last week. Still, don’t expect "Meach," as he’s called by his teammates, to start bragging.

"Robert will lead by example," Ainge said. "He’s not ever going to be a guy ? that’s going to be a rah-rah, hooting and hollering-type of guy. That’s just not in his personality. He’s a quiet guy in general."

Ainge was a bit more quiet on Wednesday. His voice was noticeably hoarse. He said he is fighting through a sinus infection, but expects to be fine for the Air Force game on Saturday.

Ainge Honored: Ainge was chosen as O’Reilly Auto Parts college football player of the week for his 291-yard, four-touchdown performance in UT’s 35-18 victory over Cal.

Practice Report: Coach Phillip Fulmer said Wednesday’s practice was "just OK". Fulmer said his coaching staff might have tried to implement too large of a game plan.

"It’s not a lack of effort," Fulmer said. "We’ve got them thinking too much. Whatever we’ve got to throw out, we’re going to throw it out."

Simulating Air Force’s triple-option Flexbone offense has been the toughest challenge.

"You try to emulate it the very best that you can," Fulmer said. "That’s not an easy thing to do. It’s not something you see. And it’s not something you practice against that much.

"There are some unique styles to it that makes you be disciplined. That’s the reason they run it."

Fulmer said he was pleased with UT’s special teams practice. He also said he was happy with his team’s attentiveness coming off the last week’s win against Cal and with Florida lurking next week.

"I would have liked to seen it be a little bit crisper," Fulmer said. "It’s hard to be crisp when you’ve seen so many new things ? I don’t have a crystal ball to know for sure."

Men In The Middle: Fulmer said sophomore defensive tackle Demonte’ Bolden had his best practice as a Vol on Tuesday. Fulmer said Wednesday’s effort also was pleasing.

Fulmer has repeatedly said he is concerned with the depth at defensive tackle. UT mostly ran a three-man rotation against Cal until the game got out of hand.

"I think we’ve made a little progress with the young defensive tackles," Fulmer said. "They’ve still got to get tougher."

Air Attack: Defensive backs coach Larry Slade said UT’s secondary played "OK" against Cal.

"We’d like to be a little bit more aggressive than we were in the Cal game," Slade said.

Slade said his defensive backs were more aggressive against UT’s receivers during the offseason than they were in the season opener.

"There were some times where we’d make a call and I’d see a corner lined up eight, nine yards off (the receiver)," Slade said. "That’s not the way we play all the time."

Slade said UT’s defensive backs were wary of giving up a big play in some cases. In others, Slade expected more.

Mount Up: Tailback Montario Hardesty said he gained some confidence from his 56-yard, five-carry performance against Cal. He hopes UT’s coaches took notice.

"This is for the coaches," the sophomore said. "They’ll have more confidence in me now."

Coaches surely had some concern about Hardesty before his 2006 debut. The North Carolinian underwent two knee surgeries in the offseason and was sidelined for some of fall camp as he worked through soreness in his right knee.

Injury Report: Fulmer said defensive tackle Dan Williams was sidelined when a player rolled up on his ankle. Fulmer said Williams should be fine.

Voting Vol: Former UT coach and athletic director Doug Dickey has been named to the Harris Poll. Along with the USA Today Coaches’ Poll and an average of six computer ratings, the Harris Poll is one of three key components of the BCS formula used to determine teams in the national championship game.

Vol Stat: Ainge (259.1) has the second-highest pass-efficiency rating in the nation, just behind LSU’s JaMarcus Russell (259.7).

Johnson hearing postponed: Marsalous Johnson’s preliminary hearing, originally scheduled for Wednesday, has been postponed until Oct. 25.

The defensive back from Smyrna is serving a four-game suspension after being charged with aggravated assault July 30 for allegedly pointing a toy Uzi at an off-duty police officer from his vehicle on a stretch of I-40 near Cookeville.