Douglas has chip on his shoulder

Douglas, Tennessee's senior right guard, wants to show people what he can do now that he's healthy.

"I'm really coming out this year with a chip on my shoulder to really prove myself and really assert myself as one of the top linemen in the conference if not the country," Douglas said Tuesday. "That's one of my main goals for this year, and just really be a leader by example for this team, and just really assert myself as one of those top linemen."

Douglas started the first five games of 2004 before suffering a foot injury in the fifth game at Georgia. He missed the next two games against Mississippi and Alabama and came off the bench against South Carolina.

He returned to the starting lineup for Notre Dame but missed the last two regular-season games against Vanderbilt and Kentucky with the lingering foot injury.

He was back for the SEC championship game and Cotton Bowl.

"I didn't show my full potential the last half of the season playing on a bad foot and then the knee problem developing," Douglas said. "I'm extremely excited with how those two injuries have healed and where I'm at right now physically and body-weight-wise and conditioning-wise. I'm really excited to see how I'm going to play."

UAB will get a dose of a healthy Douglas when it takes on Tennessee in Neyland Stadium on Saturday.

The Vols boast one of the SEC's top running backs, Gerald Riggs, and perhaps the best offensive line in Phillip Fulmer's 14 seasons as head coach.

"We have a tremendous amount of potential, but everybody knows potential is nothing till you get out there and prove it," Douglas said.

The Vols' line has been shuffled for the opener due to injuries to centers Richie Gandy and David Ligon.

Starting left guard Rob Smith has settled into a new job at center, and redshirt freshman Ramon Foster has moved to Smith's spot at left guard. Foster was slotted behind Douglas at right guard earlier in the preseason.

It's nothing new for the linemen to do some shifting. Many of them did it in 2004 when injuries caused some changing of positions on the line.

"Last year we had a lot of injuries and a lot of guys had to bounce around and step up and kind of pull their own weight," Douglas said. "I think it kind of prepared us for this season when those two guys (Gandy and Ligon) went down. You know, you can't panic, we've been there before, we've been through this kind of situation."

Douglas says the line is ready to see somebody new after facing what he calls one of the best defensive lines in the country in the preseason.

"Those guys are very good players all across the board," Douglas said. "I think we fare pretty well against them not only in scrimmage work but in one-on-one drills and team drills and things of that nature.

"I'm kind of anxious to get out there and get tested against some other people and some other defenses."