Tennessee’s football team had more than its fair share of injuries to deal with Friday, its first day of preseason practice. The rash of minor ailments even extended to coach Phillip Fulmer.

Fulmer had his left arm iced down after practice. Fulmer said he pulled a biceps muscle while instructing one of his players.

On a more serious note, senior linebacker Ryan Karl isn’t expected to miss any significant time after suffering a back injury in a freak weight-room accident earlier this summer. Karl appeared to be OK Friday as he participated for most of practice.

“He’s done everything, he just can’t have contact,” Fulmer said. “He’s going to be fine, we think.”

When questioned further on the issue, Fulmer said, “He’s going to be fine.”

Fulmer said Karl, who started all 13 games last season, will likely be held out of contact for a week or two.

“It just depends on how he feels,” Fulmer said. “He’s doing fine — better than I thought.”

Senior defensive end Xavier Mitchell had a protective wrap on his right thumb and wrist during practice. The injury is not thought to be serious.

Senior quarterback Erik Ainge was sporting a bit of a limp after practice but told coaches he was only sore from a new pair of shoes that had yet to broken in.

These Are The Ends: Defensive ends coach Steve Caldwell shared some high praise for sophomore Wes Brown.

“Wes is as quick as any of them,” Caldwell said. “I wouldn’t be scared to play with him today. I think Robert Ayers has stepped up his game.

“Those two guys have made a step. I’m anxious to see them in pads.”

That could provide competition for seniors Antonio Reynolds and Mitchell, who have proved to be consistent, solid players. Caldwell, however, is looking for more big plays this season, which means quickness is key.

“I think they look real quick,” Caldwell said. “I’m really happy with the whole group.”

Caldwell admitted that the group started to drag toward the end of practice.

“I think they’re in good shape but once you have to get in a stance, that takes a lot out of them,” he said. “We’ve got to get in football shape.”

Freshman Ben Martin’s positive attitude and personality have received high marks since he arrived on campus this summer. Friday, his quickness was on display.

“He looks tremendously quick,” Caldwell said, “(but) he doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing.”

Martin is third string on the right side behind Reynolds and Ayers, a junior. Sophomore Andre Mathis is third string on the left behind Mitchell and Brown.

Not So Young: Senior Eric Young was moved to left tackle partly because of his experience protecting the quarterback’s blind side.

“He played there his first two years on campus,” offensive line coach Greg Adkins said of Young, who started all 13 games at right tackle in 2006. “He started against LSU there (at left tackle) as a sophomore.”

Junior Ramon Foster was the first-team right guard over sophomore Jacques McClendon. Sophomore Chris Scott was the first-team right tackle, along with sophomore Josh McNeil at center and junior Anthony Parker at left guard.

“I think there’s still some competition,” Adkins said, “but we’ll sort it out as we go.”

Young Ones: It didn’t take long for Fulmer to tout his highly ranked 2007 signing class.

“There’s some young guys that look like they’re going to push themselves pretty quickly into the mix,” Fulmer said in his opening statement after practice. “I don’t know just who those are just yet.”

Fulmer pointed out that UT had the third-fewest returning lettermen in the SEC.

“But we’ve had a lot of guys that have played a lot of football,” he added.

Schedule: The Vols had to move indoors midway through practice because of lightning in the area. UT began work in Lindsey Nelson Stadium, where they will hold much of preseason practice.

The Vols will practice nine consecutive days before a day off following their first scrimmage on Aug. 11. UT will only hold two two-a-day practices — Aug. 14 and 16.

NCAA rules limit how many times a team can practice. Therefore, many teams, such as UT, have held a longer camp with daily emphasis on film study.

Drew Edwards contributed to this report.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.