Tyler Bray Injury: Updating Tennessee QB and What It Means to Volunteers

Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray broke his thumb this past weekend and will be out a minimum of four weeks, possibly six.

This is absolutely devastating news for the Volunteers who, following a 20-12 loss to Georgia, needed to make a massive comeback in order to challenge in the SEC East.

Bray was having a spectacular season, averaging 332 yards per game with 14 touchdowns to just two interceptions before playing Georgia. He also led the SEC in passing efficiency and in total yards per game.

Matt Simms came in after Bray went down and led Tennessee to their only touchdown of the day, but the drive was largely set up by Bray.

 The Vols get to play LSU, Alabama and South Carolina in consecutive weeks, and none of those games look close to winnable anymore, especially considering all of the other injuries this team has gone through, including running back Tauren Poole.

Poole did not return to the field after a hamstring injury took him out midway through the second quarter.

Thankfully, Simms has some game experience from last year when he started the first eight games of last season, though he lost six of them.

If Bray is only out for four weeks, he will make his return against Arkansas on the road, and unless Simms shows everyone something we didn’t know he had, they will need Bray in order to get a win.

The Vols should be bowl-eligible with three wins currently and Middle Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Kentucky remaining on the schedule, which is something the fans can take solace in.

Unfortunately, any aspirations higher than that are next to gone, now that Tyler Bray is out for four to six weeks.