What Cooper Mays said about his long-awaited return to the Tennessee offensive line

Senior center Cooper Mays made his return to Tennessee’s offensive line in the 41-20 win over South Carolina on Saturday night at Neyland Stadium. He missed the first four games of the season after undergoing hernia surgery on August 9.

Mays returned to practice three weeks ago and dressed for Tennessee’s games against Austin Peay, Florida and UTSA before finally making his return against the Gamecocks.

Mays met with reporters on Wednesday to discuss the injury, the process of returning to the field and what’s next for the Vols as they go through the bye week and prepare for the October 14 game against Texas A&M:

How he felt Saturday night while making his return in Tennessee game against South Carolina 

“Yeah, it felt good. It felt good for me to get out there, be with my teammates. That was the hardest part of being out. So just getting back and being able to get in the swing of things and find a little bit of rhythm was good. You know, it sometimes hurts to play, the game is how it is. So I’ve been a little bit sore, but getting back this week and getting ready for next week too.”

If he played more snaps than he anticipated against South Carolina 

“No. Probably not. I don’t know. If I’m gonna start something, I’m gonna try to finish it. So I anticipated playing the whole game and kind of ended up being like that.”

How hard it was to sit out the last few weeks and miss Tennessee’s first four games of the season 

“It was rough. That was expected, though. I mean, we’re student athletes. It’s kind of like our whole thing, you know, playing football, it’s basically kind of our whole life. So not being able to do what you love and what you’ve prepared for doing your whole life is gonna be hard every time.”

Trying to get in playing shape while coming back from the injury and playing within the tempo of Tennessee’s offense

“It was tough. Just something that we kinda harped on in my recovery process was making sure that I do everything I can to stay conditioned and get ready for whenever I do come back and play, making sure I was ready for the task at hand. So it was a big focus of ours and I think we did a pretty good job.”

At what point he knew that he would be returning to the field for Tennessee on game day

“Earlier in the week we have our padded practices. And kind of the first day that I got out there in pads and did the whole thing, felt pretty confident in myself, felt pretty comfortable in my shoes and where my feet were. So it was probably earlier in the week. I found a good gauge of where I was at.”

The ceiling for Tennessee’s offensive line and how his teammates filled in while he was out

“The ceiling’s really high. I think when we play together, we play pretty good football. And I think that was kind of shown this past week. I think we did a pretty good job, but got stuff to grow with. As far as Dayne (Davis), Ollie (Lane) and all the guys that stepped up when I was hurt, super proud of those guys. They’ve done a lot of great things around here and that was just another one of them. And I think they filled their role pretty well.”

The key to Tennessee’s offensive line improving with games coming up against Texas A&M and Alabama 

“I think the biggest key is using this week not just to have a week off, (but) really being intentional about how we’re working and figuring out the game plan and figuring out the stuff that we need to do to win.”

If Ollie Lane leaned on him for knowledge while filling in as Tennessee’s center

“I think so. You can ask him. I think he leaned on me a little bit. I think we all as a whole, our whole line kind of bonded together around those guys that were filling in, building them up, giving them confidence. And then for me, anything that I saw that I knew that he might not have known, I showed it to him and figured out how he could get better at it.”

If he paid attention to what was being said about his injury and his status while he was out

“I just didn’t really deal with it. I just kind of turned a blind eye to it, kind of turned my head. You can’t really focus on what everybody’s saying outside of the building. And that’s preached by our coaching staff, that 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.”

If he got a lot of questions himself about his injury and when he might be back for Tennessee

“Yeah, but you know, I’m not out too much. I’m pretty busy with football here, so not too much.”

Who he leaned on during the process to keep his spirits up

“Really my whole line. That was big for me and a huge part of it was my family. After I had my surgery, I went home for a couple days and hung out with my family and they kind of nursed me back to health a little bit, my little brother. So, yeah, it was my family, all of my teammates around here, everybody’s great. I love all of them guys.”

How his little brother helped him during the rehab process

“Oh man, you know, if anybody’s ever had to deal with my surgery, it’s kind of hard to get up and get going. So he would always walk with me, hold my hand, make sure I was propped up right and could get where I was going.”

Watching film of John Campbell and Javontez Spraggins on Tennessee’s offensive line and the energy they bring

“Really fun. Anytime those guys are out there hitting on all cylinders, it’s gonna be a fun game and a violent game. So if you watch the game, there’s plenty of finished plays and plays where guys are taking people over the pile, stuff like that. And I think that’s kind of who we are as an O-line and who we’re trying to be. That’s our identity.”