Name: How Cooper Mays returned from injury for Tennessee football and dealt with speculation
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How Cooper Mays returned from injury for Tennessee football and dealt with speculation

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FOOTBALL Adam SparksKnoxville News SentinelTennessee football starting center Cooper Mays said it hurt so good to finally make his season debut against South Carolina following hernia surgery in August.“If felt good for me to get out there,” Mays said Wednesday in his first public comments this season. “Sometimes it hurts to play the game. That’s just how it is. I’ve been a little bit sore, but (I am) getting back this week and getting ready for next week too.”Mays, a preseason All-SEC selection, played in 70 of 74 offensive snaps in UT’s 41-20 win over South Carolina on Saturday. That’s on par with his average of 69 snaps per game last season.And Mays played well, which is quite a feat considering his injury and the rust he had to shake off. But he said he stayed in good condition during rehabilitation so he could play in the Vols’ up-tempo offense when he returned.“If I’m going to start something, I’m going to try to finish it,” said Mays, a former Knox Catholic standout. “I anticipated playing the whole game, it kind of ended up being like that.”Mays’ return was a welcomed sight as the Vols heal during their off week and prepare for a challenging October slate of SEC games.No. 18 Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 SEC) will play Texas A&amp;M (4-1, 2-0) on Oct. 14 (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS) at Neyland Stadium. But first, Texas A&amp;M plays No. 10 Alabama on Saturday for control of the SEC West.When Mays would return was a weekly topic of speculation, and coach Josh Heupel added to the confusion.Mays underwent the hernia surgery on Aug. 9. The next day, Heupel said Mays’ injury was a “couple of weeks deal.”Before the Florida game, Heupel said he anticipated Mays “being ready to play.” Before the UTSA game, Heupel said Mays’ availability to play “is kind of based on how he is feeling” on gameday. Mays was in uniform and participated in warm-ups for games against Austin Peay, Florida and UTSA, but he didn’t play.On Wednesday, Heupel didn’t provide much clarity to the situation.“(I) anticipated him being in the position to play last Saturday,” Heupel said. “You know, for Coop, he’s tough mentally, physically. He’s a great leader inside our program. (It was) unfortunate that the injury happened early. But he’s been fighting his butt off to get back. (I am) really pleased with how he played. I think that was a big part of the football game.”Mays said he felt like he would play against South Carolina after going through a full-pad practice early last week. In the weeks before that, he said he ignored the speculation about his projected return.“I just didn’t really deal with it. I just kind of turned a blind eye to it, kind of turned my head,” Mays said. “You can’t really focus on what everybody is saying outside the building, and that’s preached by our coaching staff. All that matters is right here in this building.“So that’s where my ears were listening and that’s where my eyes were looking at. So it didn’t really bother me too much.”Now that Mays is back, the Vols have more options on the offensive line.Left guard Andrej Karic and right tackle Jeremiah Crawford missed the South Carolina game due to injury after starting the first four games of the season. But Heupel said he expects them to be available against Texas A&amp;M.Against South Carolina, Ollie Lane slid from center to starting left guard and Gerald Mincey started at right tackle. The offensive line played well. But Mays’ return and the Gamecocks’ deficiencies were factors.So do the Vols stick with that starting five or put Karic and Crawford back into the lineup?Heupel didn’t tip his hand. But the Vols have rotated players at those positions all season, so don’t be surprised if they do that against the Aggies.“We’re going to need all those guys, some that have played a substantial amount of plays and maybe some that haven’t yet,” Heupel said.Mays, right guard Javontez Spraggins and left tackle John Campbell are mainstays in the starting lineup. But there's competition at the two other positions.At left guard, Lane, a former Gibbs standout, is more experienced with 33 games and 10 starts in his Vols career. But Karic, a Texas transfer, started the first four games at left guard this season.Lane and Karic have been the lowest-graded starting linemen, according to Pro Football Focus.Lane played well against nonconference foes but sub-par in both SEC games. Karic played his best game against Austin Peay and his worst against Florida.But their overall grades are comparable, according Pro Football Focus. Of course, UT coaches may grade them differently. But Mays likes the offensive line that he’s tasked to lead the remainder of the season.“The ceiling is really high,” Mays said. “I think when we play together, we play really good football. That was kind of shown this past week. We’ve got stuff to grow with.”Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Emailadam.sparks@knoxnews.com. Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing atknoxnews.com/subscribe.&nbsp;&nbsp;Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the&nbsp;SEC Unfiltered newsletter,&nbsp;delivered straight to your inbox.

FOOTBALL Adam SparksKnoxville News SentinelTennessee football starting center Cooper Mays said it hurt so good to finally make his season debut against South Carolina following hernia surgery in August.“If felt good for me to get out there,” Mays said Wednesday in his first public comments this season. “Sometimes it hurts to play the game. That’s just how it is. I’ve been a little bit sore, but (I am) getting back this week and getting ready for next week too.”Mays, a preseason All-SEC selection, played in 70 of 74 offensive snaps in UT’s 41-20 win over South Carolina on Saturday. That’s on...

How Cooper Mays returned from injury for Tennessee football and dealt with speculation

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