Cooper Mays could start to tell it early last week.

After being sidelined for more than a month with a hernia and subsequent surgery, Mays' status as Tennessee's starting center was uncertain. Weeks of speculation about playing gave way to Mays not seeing the field at all through the Vols' first four games.

As Tennessee prepped for South Carolina in full pads, Mays felt like he could play. A few days later, he made his first game appearance in more than 270 days in the Vols' 41-20 win.

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"Earlier in the week we had our padded practices and kind of the first day that I got back out there in pads and did the whole thing,” Mays said. “(I) felt pretty confident in myself and felt pretty confident where my feet were. So, probably in the beginning of the week I found a good gauge of where I was at.”

For Mays, watching from the sidelines was as challenging as his rehabilitation and readjustment to the pace of Tennessee's tempo offense following his surgery.

He leaned heavily on his teammates in the offensive line room and his family.

“Really my whole o-line. That was big for me,” Mays said. “A huge part of it was my family. After I had my surgery I went home for a couple of days and hung out with my family. They kind of nursed me back to health a little bit, my little brother. It was my family, my teammates, everyone around here. It was great. I love those guys.”

Mays' younger brother, Camp Mays was especially helpful.

“If anybody has had to deal with that surgery, it’s kind of hard to get up and get going,” Mays said. “He would always walk with me, hold my hand and make sure I was propped up right and could get where I was going.”

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Mays' absence caused a shift in Tennessee's offensive front.

Ollie Lane started in his place at center with Dayne Davis taking second team reps despite both being also listed in the two-deep at guard and tackle, respectively.

From the sidelines, Mays offered a unique perspective for Lane, who went to him regularly during his transition to center.

“I think (Lane) leaned on me a little bit,” Mays said. “I think as a whole we kind of bonded together around those guys that were filling in, building them up, giving them confidence. I think 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.”

With Mays back, Tennessee's starting front four against South Carolina likely looked more like the group the coaching staff had anticipated prior to the season. Their blocking helped the run game put up 238 yards and limited the Gamecocks defense to just one sack and one tackle for loss.

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"The ceiling (for the offensive line) is really high," Mays said. "I think when we play together we play pretty good football and I think that’s kind of shown this past week. I think we did a pretty good job. We’ve got stuff to grow with. As far as Dayne (Davis) and Ollie (Lane), the guys that stepped up when I was hurt, super proud of those guys. They’ve done a lot of great things around here. I think they fit their role really well.”

Mays ended up playing 70 of the 74 total offensive snaps—a positive sign that he'll continue to be available going forward as Tennessee prepares for a daunting stretch through the month of October that includes Texas A&M, Alabama and Kentucky.

"(Mays) is tough mentally, physically," head coach Josh Heupel said. "He's a great leader inside of our program. Unfortunate that the injury happened early but, but he's been fighting his butt off to get back. Really, pretty pleased with how he played. I think that was a big part of the football game."

"It was great having (Mays) back," offensive lineman John Campbell Jr. added. "He had a big impact. I already knew what I was going to get from him. It was great having him out there. That's my boy. I love that boy...It was great just having him back on the field with us, just fighting."

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