On the eve of another top 10 series for Tennessee baseball, one key contributor has been removed from the injury report.

Second baseman Gavin Kilen, who has had one at-bat in the Vols’ last 11 games as he’s been hampered by a hamstring injury, was not listed on No. 5 Tennessee’s injury report ahead of its three-game series at No. 6 Ole Miss this weekend.

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A Louisville transfer, Kilen has made an immediate impact both in the field and the Vols’ lineup. Before the injury, he was leading Tennessee with 31 hits, 10 home runs, 25 RBIs, 32 runs and a .986 slugging percentage.

It is unclear what Kilen’s roll will be this weekend. He had an at-bat during the Vols’ series sweep of South Carolina two weeks ago.

Pitched A.J. Russell was also absent from the report. He was previously held out after undergoing Tommy John surgery late last season, but has made a slow return to the pitching staff.

He tossed 1.0 inning in the Vols’ midweek game against North Alabama back in February and then another 1.0 inning outing vs. Tennessee Tech last week.

Russell went 2.0 innings, striking out two and allowing one hits in Tennessee’s 10-2 win over Alabama State on Tuesday.

It is unlikely that Russell will go against Ole Miss, though. The Vols announced their typical pitching lineup of Liam Doyle in Game 1 Friday and Marcus Phillips in Game 2 Saturday.

Tegan Kuhns will make his fourth-straight Game 3 start on Sunday.

Tennessee (29-4, 9-3 SEC) is looking to bounce back after losing its first SEC series in more than a year last week against Texas A&M.

First pitch between the Vols and Rebels (26-7, 8-4) at Swayze Field in Oxford is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday (TV: SEC Network+).

The Cincinnati Bengals continue to build their own big board for the upcoming NFL Draft, and another name they appear to have added is Tennessee Volunteer defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott, according to Ian Rapoport. He also visited with the Brown, Falcons, Bears and Bucs, and he has upcoming visits with the Bills and Titans.

The Bengals have previously met with defensive linemen Walter Nolen and James Pierce, and it’s clear they’re looking to bolster a defensive front that struggled to get to the passer, outside of Trey Hendrickson, of course.

Norman-Lott was featured on a talented and heavy rotation on the Volunteers defensive line, so his snaps were limited, but he he was primarily a three-tech. The undersized lineman excelled at creating havoc in the backfield, and led FBS defensive tackles in pass rush win rate and win percentage. Having a consistent pass rusher from the interior of the defensive line is something the Bengals have lacked since Geno Atkins’ departure.

The Bengals’ defense, even with Hendrickson’s lead-leading 17.5 sacks, only managed 36 sacks in total, landing them in the bottom 10 defenses in the league at generating pressure. In a conference with Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson, who the Bengals play twice a season at a minimum, they can’t afford to not have more pass rushers. If the Bengals don’t find a defensive tackle, they like early, or if Norman-Lott is sitting available to them in the third or fourth rounds, selecting him would absolutely make sense.

ESPN ranks Norman-Lott as the seventh-best defensive tackle and the No. 52 overall ranked player in this year’s draft class. PFF ranks him as the ninth-best interior defender and the No. 66 overall selection. Dane Brugler, however, has Norman-Lott as this year’s 15th-ranked interior defensive lineman has him outside the top-100 prospects in this year’s “The Beast,” and believes he’ll be a third or fourth-round pick.

What would you think about the Bengals grabbing Norman-Lott on Day 2 or early Day 3 in this year’s draft?

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