For two years, J.T. Mapu spread his message door-to-door on a Mormon mission in Houston.

He still puts out words of faith to any teammates who show an interest, but he has another message for upcoming Tennessee opponents.

He's almost back.

He's getting close to being the player who started 11 games as a UT sophomore in 2003.

"Oh, yeah, it's fun being out here," the 6-foot-3, 275-pound junior from Kahuku, Hawaii, said between UT's two-a-day practices on Tuesday. "Being away from it, I missed it so much."

Knocking on a stranger's door on his mission work wasn't always easy for the sometimes shy, quiet Hawaiian.

Neither are two-a-day practices in the heat and humidity of East Tennessee. But Mapu has learned to adjust to whatever comes his way.

"Actually, I like them both a lot," he said. "I really enjoyed my time out there, talking to people, getting to know people and sharing the message I went to share.

"But it has been good to get back on the field and get back into practice."

Teammates have asked Mapu what his life on the road was like. He's more than willing to sit down and talk with whoever comes his way.

"They have questions and wonder what I did while I was gone," he said. "I just share and share by example."

But he knows he's on a different kind of mission these days. He's leading by example.

Defensive tackle coach Dan Brooks marvels at how mature Mapu has become, on the field and off.

"He has grown up a tremendous amount," Brooks said. "The thing that has been so impressive is his retention.

"We've been together a long time, Coach (John) Chavis and the whole staff, so we don't change much, but his retention -- to be gone that long and come back -- he knows where to line up and he knows what to do."

He has guys like senior Justin Harrell to help him get back into a football state of mind.

Harrell might be the preseason All-SEC pick, but there's a comfort level that's important to Harrell working side by side with Mapu.

"I'm looking forward to seeing him on the field this year," Harrell said. "We came into this program together so we're like two old horses of the defense.

"It's always good to know when you line up you've got a great player standing beside you".

Mapu had 26 tackles, including two sacks and 4A 1/2 tackles for a loss in 2003.

Back then, it was Harrell playing behind Mapu in search of some playing time.

Roles are reversed with coaches going with Harrell and Matt McGlothlin as starters at defensive tackle so far in preseason drills.

"He was really playing well at the time he left," Brooks said of Mapu. "It's not like he never left, because he's not to that point yet, but he's working as hard as he can to get back to that point.

"The biggest thing is getting on and off blocks."

Mapu didn't have much time for conditioning while he was away on his mission work.

"He had great quickness when he was here the first time," Brooks said. "He could attack a blocker and go make a play.

"Right now, his legs are really tired. Football is played, especially in the defensive line, with your hips, legs and those big muscles. His legs are just a little tired and heavy right now."

Mapu saw action in only 26 plays during the Vols' first major scrimmage last Saturday. This Saturday night, during scrimmage No. 2, expect to see a lot more of Mapu.

"We didn't feel like he needed to go 40 or 50 plays," Brooks said. "We wanted him to get a feel for it again. He didn't do great, but he did OK.

"Now we just go and get in a rotation. When you get to this Saturday, and get two weeks from game time (Sept. 2 at home against California), you kind of need to know who is going to rotate and where people are going to be."

UT coach Phillip Fulmer makes it clear he expects Mapu to contribute, whether it be as a starter or with the second team.

"He was always one of those guys who was naturally strong," Fulmer said. "He's working like heck to catch up.

"He's probably about where he was when he left just because of his maturing process."

Mapu admitted it hasn't been easy, but he's beginning to feel like he's approaching football shape again.

"I'm getting there," he said. "It's going slowly, but I'm just taking it day by day.

"Obviously I'm making some progress, but it was rough in the beginning."

Fulmer thinks it's just a matter of time.

"We know he's a player," he said. "He's further along than we thought he might be."

That's good news for a UT defense trying to replace six of its starting front seven from a year ago.

"I'm just doing everything I can to get myself ready," Mapu said. "Coaches will decide what happens from there.

"But I think we've got a good group of guys at defensive tackle and we're all working hard to help each other."