Kiffin unhappy with Wednesday's practice

Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin was obviously displeased with the Vols following Wednesday's practice, which he called a "Thursday" practice since it was light on contact and heavy on mental testing with the season opener against Western Kentucky on Saturday.

"It's very important for our guys to understand what Thursday (practice) is," Kiffin said. "It's not a time to prepare. It's a time that we can be so focused, that we know our game plan so well that we don't repeat anything.

"We didn't quite understand that today. So luckily we have another day to do that (on Thursday)."

Kiffin obviously wasn't OK with what he deemed an average practice.

"I just think they practiced like normal teams do," he said. "That's what I told them, 'You guys practiced with the focus of what a lot of the rest of the country does and that's not what we do to be a championship team.' I just thought we were just normal today."

Injury Report: Defensive end Ben Martin was ill and missed practice. Receiver Quintin Hancock did not practice with an undisclosed issue but Kiffin said he'll be fine.

Press Box Bunch: Kiffin said offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, defensive backs coach Willie Mack Garza and graduate assistants Mitch Browning and Inky Johnson will be in the press box for Saturday's game.

"The press box in college is extremely critical," Lane Kiffin said. "In the NFL, it's not as big because you get pictures (of formations from the press box) on the sidelines. We don't get any pictures so the people upstairs are really valuable."

Tailback Talk: Kiffin said his staff has already formulated a plan to use all of UT's tailbacks.

"We have a very specific game plan as far as when we call plays these guys go in," he said. "That's how we'll do it but we'll have to get a rhythm for the game."

Much of that plan could be up for revision depending on how freshmen tailbacks, Bryce Brown and David Oku, handle the game day atmosphere.

"We'll have to see how they are," Kiffin said. "The No. 1 concern as a head coach is your freshmen and how they'll react to all the buildup of the game before it ever even kicks off.

"Managing their mindset is so critical. We'll be able to tell a lot even in warmups. We'll be able to tell a lot in the first series."

Kiffin Cuts: Kiffin said he scripts the first 15 offensive plays, every third-down situation, every short-yardage and goal-line situation and plays inside the 40-yard line.

"The first quarter of the game goes and then you really start to adjust in your mind and go off of that," he said.

He said the Vols might play receiver Nu'Keese Richardson at quarterback on Saturday.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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