Tennessee Vols LB Darrin Kirkland Jr. to miss season following knee surgery

Blake Toppmeyer
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

Tennessee middle linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. will miss the season following a knee injury suffered in practice last week, coach Butch Jones said Friday.

Tennessee's linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. (34) puts on his helmet during Tennessee fall football practice at Anderson Training Facility in Knoxville, Tennessee on Friday, August 4, 2017.

Jones had previously announced that Kirkland would miss the season opener after suffering a non-contact injury that resulted in a meniscus tear. Kirkland had surgery on Wednesday.

“We had a very positive outlook that it could be three to four to five weeks, but unfortunately that’s not the news that came about," Jones said Friday.

The No. 24 Vols play Georgia Tech in Atlanta in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game on Monday (TV: ESPN, 8 p.m. ET). 

Kirkland's injury was “one of those unusual, bizarre things that happened in practice,” Jones said Wednesday.

 

Colton Jumper is slated to start in Kirkland’s middle linebacker spot against the Yellow Jackets.

“We can’t dwell on DK not being there,” defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said Thursday. “I feel worse for him than I do for anything else. He’s a guy who really worked hard, came back last year, played well in the bowl game, had a good offseason and put himself in position to take the next step as a player. But injuries are a part of it. We’ve dealt with them before.”

Kirkland, a junior, missed five games last season with a high ankle sprain. He appeared in eight games and registered 45 tackles.

 

Kirkland was an All-SEC freshman team selection in 2015, when he played in every game and had 66 tackles and three sacks.

The loss of Kirkland stings for a Tennessee defense aiming to approve after ranking 11th in the conference in total defense last season.

Jumper, a former walk-on, will be the first choice to replace Kirkland. The senior played in every game last season, including seven starts, and finished fourth on the team with 61 tackles. Dillon Bates is listed as the second-string middle linebacker on the depth chart.

Shoop said Thursday that Tennessee might cycle through six or seven linebackers throughout the course of Monday’s game.