On Monday morning, we broke the story here at Off the Hook Sports that Tennessee Football held a players-only meeting Sunday after the Vols’ 30-13 win over the Austin Peay Governors. Joe Milton III reportedly addressed the team and took responsibility for the mistakes that occurred.
Vols tight end Jacob Warren seemed to confirm as much while speaking with the media Monday. Warren said that Milton did address the team after the game, although there was no question about whether or not it was a players-only meeting.
“As an offense we’re expecting to score a lot of points, and then we just didn’t quite move the ball the way we wanted to,” he said. “It wasn’t quite efficient enough in the red zone, for our standards.”
Although Milton was responsible for three touchdowns and threw for 228 yards, there were numerous drops and some errant passes throughout the game. It reignited concerns among fans about Milton’s accuracy, which was an issue when he was initially the starting quarterback for Tennessee Football in 2021.
Warren noted that the Vols have a level they expect to play at on offense. His fellow tight end McCallan Castles scored a touchdown in the game, and he had an 11-yard catch, but there were numerous missed opportunities by the receivers throughout the day.
“We won the game, and that’s all that matters at the end of the day, but for our standards, we realize there’s a lot of work to do and a lot of things that we need to talk about, and you hash it out, you talk about it and move on and just get ready for the next week,” he said.
Regardless of whether or not the missed passes were Milton’s fault Saturday, his leadership and intangibles have to be commended. Given what was reported and what Warren said, it’s certainly likely he shouldered the blame, and he has covered for the Tennessee Football receivers too, so he deserves a ton of praise.
