8-1! Tennessee Volunteers are in a strong position for a college football playoff spot. Week 12 is going to be crazy with lots of thrilling games, and considering the landscape, head coaches will need their top athletes on the ground. But it looks like

Josh Heupel is going to be in trouble because of the recent injury to his quarterback, Nico Lamaleava. 

Last week, the Volunteers dominated Mississippi State and secured their fourth victory after losing to Arkansas. However, the quarterback was seen leaving the field; he sustained a hard hit from safety Isaac Smith and fell on his right side. But how serious is the injury? Will he participate in the next game? Let’s tell you what we are hearing from insiders.

Insider’s comment sparks concerns about Nico’s injury and media bias

On November 14th, College Football Addiction shared a video in which Sports Talk J surprised everyone with his statement regarding Nico’s injury.

As per him, “It was a bad concussion, but I don’t think it was. I mean, I watched it. It was two plays; They couldn’t even figure out which play it was, and I didn’t see anything that was serious. So it’s probably a lower-grade one.”

J quickly added,

“But you got to take them seriously, as that’s just the way it is. So, if he can’t play or there’s some significant risk he won’t play. I just think they’ll protect him. But, I didn’t see anything that I thought was a bad concussion.”

So, that’s where we are. The injury may not be significant, but it was enough to force Nico out of the game last week. The insider gave Nico a 75% chance of making it to the game. Can he make it through the game against the Bulldogs away from home? That’s a tough ask, and knowing Kirby Smart, he’d be eager to have his defense get hold of Nico Lamaleava after the former’s performance against Ole Miss on November 9.

Moreover, if Nico’s concussion wasn’t that bad, why did we keep hearing that it was? Earlier this week, Chris Fallica, who is associated with Fox Sports, appeared on On3 and said that he heard from his sources that the concussion was bad. Sports Talk J has a theory of why the national media exaggerates stuff when it comes to Tennessee.

“Those National media guys, there is some negativity towards Tennessee because we took out the NCAA, and they don’t like Nico being the first two million dollar guy. There’s some hate over that.” 

Who do we believe then? Is it bad or not? Let’s hear from Pete Thamel.

Pete Thamel updates on Nico’s health

Pete Thamel, ESPN’s sports reporter, joined the conversation and gave an update on 

Nico’s health. The YouTube channel of ESPN College Football shared his interview, where he shed light on Nico’s availability for their next game.“There is no definitive update, and his status is undetermined. We reported Tuesday night, right before you went on the air in the college football playoff rankings show that he is in concussion protocol. I think there are some sort of breadcrumbs here that have been left. He did not return for the second half to the sideline of Tennessee’s game against Mississippi State. He was seen by reporters leaving the locker room and walking into the field to his family with a white towel over his head,” Thamel said.

Thamel further highlighted that Nico was seen in the practice session:

“Dressed in participating although no one specified to what level on both Monday and Tuesday so there is a sense that you know Nico is progressing and protocols are protocols right he has to pass them all before he plays I think there’s some quiet optimism at Tennessee that he can get there but there’s no guarantees.”

In a way, Thamel’s account is closer to Sports Talk J than Fallica. It is likely that we may see Nico Lamaleave leading the Vols’ offense against the Bulldogs. Josh Heupel would hope that’s the case because another loss could derail their season. On the flip side, losing Nico for a longer duration could also impact how the committee sees their competitive edge. We’re in for some interesting times.