One of the things you hope to most achieve in fall camp is for your team to get up to game speed while also keeping healthy across the roster. Unfortunately for Tennessee, they did not make it through this week of fall camp unscathed on the injury front.

Safety Edrees Farooq suffered what was described as a lower body injury by observers at practice on Friday. According to Patrick Brown of GoVols 247, Farooq was taken from the field by ambulance during practice. The extent of the injury has yet to be determined, which is unsurprising since it just happened. But any time you have to be taken off the field on an ambulance, that’s not a positive sign.

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Farooq looks like a player who is poised to take a big step forward and be a crucial part of the Vols’ defense in 2026. He appeared in all 13 games last year for Tennessee, and he was third on the team with 76 total tackles. He had a penchant for making impactful players, as he had four forced fumbles (T-sixth in FBS and T-second in SEC) and two interceptions, with one of them being a pick six in the win over Kentucky. He had also had a strong offseason and earned the praise from defensive coordinator Jim Knowles earlier this month.

“He just picked things up quickly. He picked things up quickly and then put himself in position to make plays. So, there’s one thing, getting the scheme. That’s step one. And then, can you function within that scheme and actually make plays? And I saw him make a lot of plays this spring that I was happy about.”

We’ll see what happens with Farooq as far as a diagnosis and recovery time, but if he’s out an extended time, then it’s all about next man up. Dylan Lewis and Dejuan Lane appear to be next in line to battle to fill Farooq’s role and line up alongside T.J. Metcalf.