Tennessee's secondary has taken another significant hit.
Sophomore defensive back Dylan Lewis is expected to miss the remainder of the 2026 season after suffering a foot injury against Kennesaw State, according to VolQuest.
Lewis was officially listed as out in the SEC availability reports leading up to the Texas game. Multiple reports identified the injury as a foot injury sustained during Tennessee's 42 to 9 victory over Kennesaw State on Sept. 19. Lewis was later seen wearing a walking boot.
The season-ending designation represents a change from what had been publicly confirmed before the Texas game. At that point, Lewis was ruled out against the Longhorns, but reports specifically distinguished his situation from the five Tennessee players already known to have season-ending injuries.
The loss comes just as Lewis was beginning to establish himself as a regular contributor in Tennessee's secondary.
According to Tennessee Athletics , Lewis appeared in all three of Tennessee's games before the injury. He played 33 defensive snaps and recorded a tackle against Furman before producing a career high three tackles in Tennessee's 45 to 24 road victory over Georgia Tech. He added two assisted tackles against Kennesaw State before being injured.
The 6-foot, 198-pound sophomore from Atlanta appeared in five games as a true freshman in 2025, primarily contributing on special teams. He arrived at Tennessee as a consensus three-star prospect from Milton High School in Georgia and enrolled early in January 2025.
Lewis' absence is especially important because Tennessee was already dealing with a major loss at safety.
Edrees Farooq suffered a season-ending injury during preseason camp, creating an opportunity for players such as Lewis to take on larger roles. Farooq started all 13 games in 2025 and recorded 76 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 4 forced fumbles.
According to Yahoo Sports, before the Texas game, Tennessee secondary coach Anthony Poindexter acknowledged that the Vols were moving pieces around as they worked to build depth in the secondary.
Lewis becoming unavailable for the remainder of the season would make that challenge even greater.
Tennessee now turns its attention to Auburn, which visits Neyland Stadium on Oct. 3. The Vols will enter that matchup looking to rebound from their first loss of the season while once again adjusting their secondary, which has been forced to deal with significant injuries early in 2026.
Send your questions, comments, and hot takes to our email tennesseeonsi@gmail.comfor the chance to be featured in an article!
Follow Our Social Media Accounts
Follow Vols on SI on X (Click
HERE
)
Follow Vols on SI on Facebook (Click
HERE
)
Follow Vols on SI on Instagram (Click
HERE
)
Subscribe to Vols on SI on YouTube (Click
HERE
)
Sign up for our newsletter to have articles sent straight to your email daily HERE .
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/tennessee as Tennessee Football Player Now Out For The Season Following Injury .
