How eye patches helped Mike Matthews catch two TD passes for Tennessee football

Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope was already returning one of the SEC's best units, but he had a vision of how to make them even better. Specifically, that vision meant blinding one eye of each of his wide receivers. 'I watched a podcast that was talking about triggering different segments of the brain by covering one eye,' Pope said on Sept. 8. 'We bought about 25 eye patches, covered one eye and caught 1,000 balls.' An eye patch is an unorthodox tool to train for the 2026 season. But Pope has already seen gains as No. 18 Tennessee (1-0) prepares to play Georgia Tech (0-1) on Sept. 12 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta. During the offseason, wide receivers caught footballs while wearing eye patches. It helped them focus on passes under less-than-ideal circumstances. Pope believes it helped Mike Matthews catch two touchdown passes against Furman in Week 1. When quarterback Faizon Brandon's play-action fake sucked a safety toward the line of scrimmage, Matthews broke wide open. But Brandon's pass was headed directly over the head of Matthews, so he adjusted his route and caught it at a sharp angle over his shoulder for a 55-yard TD. Brandon tossed another deep pass to Matthews, who outjumped a Furman defender to snag a 57-yard TD. He had to keep his eye on the football while fighting off the coverage. Both were examples of passes that Matthews may have dropped earlier in his career. Pope said Matthews' hard work made the difference, including reps with those eye patches. 'The touchdown catches are a testament to Mike and something we really focused on this summer, which was eliminating drops,' Pope said. 'It wasn't a hand-eye coordination issue. It was more of a focus issue. So we worked on a lot of things this summer and got creative (with eye patches). 'It's a testament to him that when he does the work, the easier things will be.' Tennessee receivers were pretty reliable in the 56-9 win over Furman. Matthews dropped a short pass on fourth-and-3. But he also had a career-high 132 yards receiving. Brandon praised his supporting cast for helping him complete 13 of 17 passes for 226 yards and three TDs in his debut. The next step for UT wide receivers involves trimming the rotation. Matthews and Braylon Staley are locked in as one of the SEC's best receiving duos returning this season. Sophomore Radarious Jackson started against Furman. But he's competing with sophomore Travis Smith and five-star freshman TK Keys for the third wide receiver spot. Pope said that battle is ongoing. 'It's still No. 3 by committee right now, which is a luxury,' Pope said. 'We've got three guys right now that we feel good about playing in that (third starting) spot. Nobody has necessarily taken a jump. But they're really building on one another, which is what we want in that room.' Jackson had three catches for 38 yards, and Pope was pleased with his blocking on rushing plays. Smith had two catches for 22 yards. Keys had two receptions for 29 yards, catching a 22-yard TD from George MacIntyre. Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Emailadam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe. Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.