Crompton ankle only sore, will practice today

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Florida linebacker, Brandon Spikes, made the comment Monday after practice that Tennessee had "quit playing" last year and that Florida was tougher than Tennessee. Coach Fulmer and some of the Vols respond to Spikes' comment. Watch »

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UT head coach Phillip Fulmer addresses the media Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008. Watch »

Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton said his right ankle is merely sore and that he will practice Wednesday.

Crompton is expected to play Saturday against No. 4 Florida despite missing practice Tuesday to receive extra treatment on the ankle, which has bothered him since preseason camp.

“I think you all are kind of making my ankle thing out to be more than it is, it’s just sore,” Crompton said. “It’s not like it’s really that bad of an injury. It just gets sore. So I took the day off yesterday just to get some rehab time to make sure it wasn’t sore today so I could go. During the games, it doesn’t bother me at all. During practice, it doesn’t bother me at all when I go.”

Crompton, who wore a protective boot around the ankle when speaking with reporters Wednesday afternoon, spent at least the first four periods of practice Tuesday receiving extra treatment on his ankle. He said he was on the field for part of UT’s Tuesday practice, however he did not physically participate in drills.

“The mental reps are just as big as the physical reps because you see the looks you’re going against and kind of see why we do what we do,” he said.

Crompton, who is 38-for-72 passing for 429 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions this season, has intermittently missed practice since August because of soreness in the ankle.

He missed two days of practice during an open week following the Vols' season-opening loss at UCLA, although he appeared to be unaffected by the injury in UT’s 35-3 victory over UAB on Saturday. Crompton said his ankle has not been a factor in either of Tennessee’s first two games.

Crompton said he did not know how he initially injured his ankle.

Tailback Arian Foster said Wednesday that the offense must be prepared in case Crompton can’t play.

“He’s pretty tough, but you never know how someone’s going to feel the day of the game, or if it gets tweaked, if it feels good,” Foster said. “You’re never going to know. As an offense, you have to be ready for whatever happens.”

Should the ankle force Crompton out of Saturday’s game, Tennessee would use some combination of backups sophomore Nick Stephens and redshirt freshman B.J. Coleman. Both those players saw their first game action Saturday. Stephens completed one of two passes for 42 yards and scrambled once for 5 yards; Coleman did not attempt a pass.

Wide receiver Gerald Jones is also an option at quarterback. The sophomore has taken several game snaps at quarterback over the last two seasons in the G-Gun package, all of which resulted in handoffs or rushes. He completed a touchdown pass in UT's spring game, but he has yet to attempt a pass in a regular-season game.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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