Is Bru McCoy playing tonight vs Texas A&M? Tennessee's WR injury status explored

The Tennessee Volunteers will need to make up for the loss of receiver Bru McCoy in tonight's game against Texas A&M. The WR suffered a season-ending injury in their Week 5 victory over South Carolina. The player had to undergo surgery to repair the fracture-dislocation of his right ankle.

On Oct. 1, the school released the following statement regarding the player.

"Bru McCoy underwent successful surgery this morning after suffering a fracture-dislocation of his right ankle on Saturday night, Bru and his family appreciate all of your prayers and support since last night and in the days ahead.

Is Bru McCoy playing today?

"Bru has displayed unwavering toughness, character and leadership as a Vol on and off the field, and he now begins the road to recovery, determined to make this just a minor setback on his football journey."

That leaves the Vols with the question of how to make up for the loss of production Bru McCoy brought to the team. It's clear to the coaching staff that no other player can bring that amount of yards into the offense, so they're going with a committee approach to the problem.

According to experts, the Vols tight ends Jacob Warren and McCallan Castles will also play a role in the new Tennessee offense. Coach Josh Heupel stated:

"(The tight ends will) be a part of what we do in the passing game, need them to continue to come on. They’ve created some big plays. Some big plays that we’re close on, too, with them. So they’ll be a factor in the game.”

On the other hand, offensive coordinator Joey Halzle described the skills of both tight ends as follows when answering if they would help pick up the slack from McCoy's absence:

“Quite a bit, both of them have different skill sets. Cali and Jacob are different players, but they’re both highly intelligent. We could move them around, put them in different spots, which we are, and allowing them to try to get some matchups that are favorable for them.”

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How was Bru McCoy's 2023 season going before injury?

McCoy is one of three Volunteer players with more than 200 yards, ranking third in their receiving leaders' chart. He has 217 yards with one touchdown reception in seventeen receptions.

Last year, he had 667 receiving yards with four receiving touchdowns.