WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & SportsBray, Vols making adjustments for possible return

KNOXVILLE (UT Sports) -- As Tennessee sophomore quarterback Tyler Bray gets acclimated to playing football again, the Vols are trying to make his comeback as simple as possible.

To avoid the ball being snapped directly into Bray's once broken thumb, the Vols have been operating out of the pistol formation in practice this week.

"You have to work on the ball handling," head coach Derek Dooley said. "That's different. When you get in the pistol, there's a pistol offense and there's getting into the pistol formation. Alabama runs the pistol formation, but it's really a traditional, pro-style offense. Nevada runs the pistol offense, which is the veer option and all the other stuff. It's really just a formation. You're just backing the (quarterback) up to eliminate a couple of steps."

The formation won't change much for the Vols, even for sophomore center Alex Bullard.

"It's just a shotgun snap for him," Dooley said. "You're talking about a half-a-yard of difference, not much. It's just like being in shotgun. The difference is, there will be plays where the tailback is standing behind the quarterback."

Bray's status for Saturday is the same as it was the last two days.

"He's about the same as yesterday. We'll just see day-to-day. We limited his reps a little bit, especially early in practice so he can kind of manage it through the rest of the deal. No real difference from yesterday."

Whether Bray can play or not, he's thankful for the opportunity to be back out on the practice field. The Kingsburg, Calif., native's time on the sidelines changed his perspective.

"I study a lot and also, you realize how much football really means to you," Bray said. "(You) kind of take it for granted that you have to come out and practice every day. Once you get hurt and that's taken away from you, you see things differently."