The Vols headed into their first official practice of bowl season yesterday, three players short in their secondary, two of which they already know won’t return for the Music City Bowl in Nashville against North Carolina on Dec. 30 (TV: ESPN, 6:30 p.m.). Former starting cornerback Art Evans will miss a fifth consecutive game due to suspension, and reserve defensive back Stephaun Raines has been dismissed from the program for a violation of team rules. Although, it’s the player with an uncertain timetable who figures to be the most notable absence, and when UT reports for its workout to start preparing for the Tar Heels, it will do so without star safety Janzen Jackson. "Janzen Jackson is dealing with some very, very personal and family issues," Vols coach Derek Dooley said during a press conference on Wednesday. "He’s back in Louisiana, and I don’t know exactly when he’ll be back, but we do expect him to play. We do expect him to be back at some point to prepare for the game. That’s all I really want to say about it because it is really personal and I want to respect his privacy on that." "Art, we’ll reevaluate Art’s status at the end of the bowl game. We did dismiss Stephaun Raines for team-rule violations."
At this point in time, those appear to be the only subtractions from a UT roster that rolled through four straight wins just to qualify for the postseason, although there’s still a possibility of players being declared academically ineligible when grades are posted.
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