Growing pains are expected. They’re actually mandatory, in this case. Those teachable moments were always going to happen with these 2018 Volunteers, and there are plenty more to come. It’s what you do with those mistakes that determines whether or not you improve as a player.
The best example we have of that so far is freshman cornerback Bryce Thompson. The 2018 four-star recruit took his lumps against West Virginia, but Jeremy Pruitt was impressed with how Thompson responded.
“I think Bryce would be the first one to tell you that he didn’t play very well against West Virginia,” Pruitt said on Wednesday after practice.