Kiffin won't comment if Jackson suspended for Memphis game

Lane Kiffin isn’t about to start violating his personal policy about suspensions by talking about them publicly.

But at this point, it wouldn’t appear the Tennessee coach is exactly keeping them a secret either.

Janzen Jackson spent practice Thursday watching from a distance, and for a healthy safety who’s the reigning freshmen of the week in the SEC, that’s about as official as it gets. With or without confirmation from Kiffin, it appears Jackson won’t be in uniform to defend his latest award and an administrative issue will keep him out of the lineup against Memphis on Saturday (TV: ESPNU, 7 p.m.).

“I don’t talk about guys being suspended during the week,” Kiffin said. “So just like if it’s happened before and it’s happened again, I’ll address it after the game.”

When pressed further on Jackson specifically, Kiffin gave the same response about his availability for the Tigers.

The freshman has started every game but the opener for the Vols, and he’s emerged as one of the best players on one of the nation’s toughest defenses. But the fact Prentiss Waggner and Darren Myles Jr., split Jackson’s normal reps with the starters at practice perhaps gave away the answer Kiffin wouldn’t.

“Same thing, Prentiss and Darren Myles have both been back there,” Kiffin said. “We’ve given them basically equal reps and we’ll go back in there and watch this film before we make any decisions.”

A decision on Jackson seems to have already been made. But an official verdict won’t come out until Saturday.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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