Tennessee held its first scrimmage during fall training camp at Neyland Stadium on Thursday.
Third-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with media following the scrimmage.
Heupel was asked about balancing patience with wanting to push freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
“When you have to grow, you have to grow,” Heupel said. “You have to be pushed. When we install it, he’s running everything. You’ve heard me say that when they finish spring ball, when they come back at the beginning of training camp, they should be a different player. He’s a different player. He has great command and understanding of what we’re doing. He understands protections. He understands how he has to get us out of run-run checks, pass-run checks, or whatever it might be. He hasn’t been perfect, but he’s grown.
“One of the things that we’ve talked about is not making the same mistake twice. He doesn’t make the same mistake twice. He learns from it. There was a rep yesterday as he was going through his reading progression. There was a tight window on the inside, he throws the ball and while he’s standing in the pocket, you can see him visually be like, ‘Hey man, I should’ve gotten to the next one outside.’ He’s intentional and has great work habits.”
PHOTOS: Tennessee starting quarterbacks through the years
