Pollard, Dillon cleared to return
As the Tigers practiced and worked themselves into shape this spring, Tony Pollard had to watch from the sidelines while he worked on agility drills.
The junior had an undisclosed injury and the team wanted to be cautious in bringing him back. On Wednesday, Pollard returned to the Tigers and was able to practice for the first time wearing pads this spring.
“After the injury, I was ready to get back 2 to 3 days later but just for precautions, they wanted me to sit out and take it slow. But I’m back out here so I’m just glad to be back,” Pollard said.
Pollard, who said he was nursing a hamstring injury, lined up at both running back and wide receiver, showing off the versatility that head coach Mike Norvell expects to see out of him.
Norvell said Pollard will be used as a receiver as much as catching passes out of the backfield and he's been working on developing as a route runner.
"We're still going to hand the ball to him but he's going to be able to do everything. He's really cleaned up the fundamental aspect of his game," Norvell said.
Pollard will be a full go for Saturday's scrimmage in Nashville, as will Jackson Dillon, who participated in practice without wearing the green non-contact jersey for the first time this spring.
The senior linebacker, who is still awaiting word from the NCAA on being granted a sixth year of eligibility, ran with the first group of linebackers and while he appeared a bit winded at times, he showed flashes of the passrushing ability that made him an impact player before suffering seasonending injuries in 2016 and 2017.
"We're obviously being smart with those guys on the amount of work getting them back in playing shape but we're really excited having them back out."