Vanderbilt football tight end Eli Stowers did not participate in the team’s scrimmage Aug. 9 due to a minor, undisclosed injury and he could miss a week or so of practices, but the injury is not expected to impact his availability for the season.
“Eli, I would say, is kind of in the next week or so, I would imagine he’ll be back out in activity,” Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea said after the scrimmage.
Several other projected starters also missed the scrimmage. Randon Fontenette is able to practice but the team has been pulling back on his volume. Miles Capers (shoulder) and Martel Hight (concussion) remained out with injuries suffered early in the week. Running back AJ Newberry, who had knee surgery following an injury at the end of the 2024 season, also missed the scrimmage due to load management. Trent Hudson (soft tissue) has also been out of practice for much of the week.
“We’re a little banged up,” Lea said. “Some of it is just out of our control. I think we have a few soft-tissue issues we’re working through and we’ve just had some shoulders and some other things that have come up that are part of playing a physical game.”
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.