Tennessee starting safety Edrees Farooq suffered a leg injury in practice on Aug. 14, a UT spokesman confirmed.
Farooq left the practice field in an ambulance and was transported to UT Medical Center.
Farooq is a returning starter. And he is projected to retain that position under new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who's been impressed with the hard-hitting 6-foot, 202-pounder.
"Edrees just picked things up quickly and then put himself in position to make plays," Knowles said on Aug. 4. "There’s one thing, getting the scheme. That’s step one. Then, can you function within that scheme and actually make plays? I saw him make a lot of plays this spring that I was happy about."
Keeping Farooq out of the transfer portal was considered a big victory for the Vols this offseason, especially since they added eight defensive backs from the portal.
Michigan transfer TJ Metcalf, Penn State transfer Dejuan Lane, sophomore Sidney Walton and sophomore Dylan Lewis are among other top contenders at safety.
Farooq is the second injury to hit UT's secondary in preseason. Cornerback Jadais Richard, a Miami transfer, is out for the season with an upper-body injury suffered in training over the summer.
Farooq started all 13 games at safety in 2025. He was tied for third on the team with 76 tackles and ranked second with two interceptions. He finished the season tied for sixth in the FBS and second in the SEC with four forced fumbles.
As a freshman in 2024, Farooq played all 13 games and made 13 tackles, mostly on special teams.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing atknoxnews.com/subscribe.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football starting safety Edrees Farooq taken to hospital for leg injury