Rick Barnes Updates Tennessee Forward JP Estrella Injury Status Ahead Of Vanderbilt Game – Rocky Top Insider

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Tennessee power forward JP Estrella remains day-to-day with left foot soreness ahead of the Vols’ matchup at Vanderbilt, head coach Rick Barnes shared Friday.
“He was up (here), they were doing some stuff with him yesterday on the treadmill,” Barnes said. “And believe it will be a day-to-day thing from here on out, I would just guess.”
Estrella is dealing with left foot soreness which sidelined him for Tennessee’s 89-66 win over Oklahoma on Wednesday night. It was the first game that the redshirt sophomore forward Estrella missed with the injury this season and it was coming off a 16-point, nine-rebound performance against LSU.
Estrella was a partial participant in Tennessee’s Friday practice open to the media. He received treatment early during practice but did some five-on-five work as practice progressed.
It is unclear when Estrella first began experiencing the soreness, but Barnes noted Wednesday that he believes Estrella was dealing with it before he told Tennessee’s coaching staff about it.
“I am upset with him,” Barnes said. “We tell those guys we don’t care if it is a little sore. I think it had been sore and he didn’t tell anybody because I think he wants to play so badly. It was probably there before he let Chad know it. So you’d have to ask him exactly, but I think it was sore before he let us know it because he wants to really help this team and his teammates. But he can’t do that. He has had that problem with that foot. That is something that you can’t mess around with.”
There’s an extra element of concern around Estrella’s injury because he missed nearly the entire 2024-25 season after undergoing surgery on the same foot. However, Barnes noted Wednesday that all x-rays have come back negative and the issue does not appear to be the same as the one that ended his season a year ago.
“Feet problems are hard to get right,” Barnes said. “But based on where the screw was placed and all that — and again I probably shouldn’t be talking about it because Chad knows it. But I don’t think that is a problem where the surgery itself (happened). It’s just some soreness set in and we just have to get it quieting down.”
Estrella is averaging 9.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game this season. His role has seriously increased over the last month after Rick Barnes inserted him into the starting lineup against Alabama.
The 6-foot-11 forward has steadily improved with the bigger role and is averaging 11.7 points and seven rebounds in the seven games since moving into the starting lineup.
Against Oklahoma, Jaylen Carey moved into the starting lineup and totaled seven points and seven rebounds. DeWayne Brow, who has started 10 games this season and could start against Vanderbilt if Estrella is out, totaled 13 points and four rebounds.
Tipoff between Tennessee basketball and Vanderbilt is at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium. Dave O’Brien, Cory Alexander and Dick Vitale are on the call for ESPN.
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