Berry finally healthy

KNOXVILLE -- Few aspects of Eric Berry's sensational sophomore season at Tennessee were overlooked.

At least one amazing feat flew under the radar, though.

Every time Berry crashed into a ball carrier or raised his arms for an interception, the All-American put more pressure on an increasingly painful shoulder injury that required offseason surgery.

"My gosh, just imagine what he'd be doing with two good shoulders," former Volunteers coach Phillip Fulmer said.

Everyone is about to experience that, because Berry admitted Tuesday that his shoulder has been a constant nuisance since he first tweaked it -- at age 12.

"It's back to 120 percent," Berry said. "I'm very confident in it. I feel like a whole new player, in a way."

Don't say you weren't warned, UT opponents.

"He was pretty good with one arm, you know," Vols wide receiver Gerald Jones joked early in preseason camp.

Modern medicine allows more ways than ever to diagnose and treat injuries that used to be largely ignored. But Berry came from an old-school football family, and he waited years to disclose fully the shoulder discomfort to his father, former UT captain and tailback James Berry.

"I heard it crack but kind of just dealt with it, because that's how my dad raised me," Eric said. "If you're not dying, you're pretty much OK.

"I told (people) it was hurting, but I'm not the type to just sit back and say I can't do something from a little pain. But I do want to say it probably progressed over the years to a greater pain. At that time it wasn't unbearable."

Berry intercepted six passes in the Vols' final eight games last year and returned them a combined 264 yards for a 44-yard average. He also had 50 tackles, seven stops behind the line of scrimmage, 10 pass breakups and two sacks in that stretch.

If not for Fulmer's comments and Berry's occasional, slight grimaces, the injury probably could have stayed a secret. Berry never publicly used it as an excuse.

"That's just not the kind of guy he is," senior linebacker Rico McCoy said. "He just wouldn't do that."

But Berry admitted Tuesday to feeling a little post-surgery hesitancy. He was held from contact all spring, and he -- like everyone else in the program -- wondered how the shoulder would respond to preseason camp collisions.

So far, so good.

"I got that out of the way in the first scrimmage," Berry said. "Montario (Hardesty) went on a long run and I tackled him. I kind of held my breath and closed my eyes on it and was like, 'Please be all right.' I got up fine -- the shoulder was intact -- and just ran back to the huddle.

"All the pre-hit butterflies and things like that are out the window. I'm ready to go."

Berry has been pulled early from every full-contact major scrimmage, but he hasn't seemed tentative in those brief windows.

"He's always flying around, laughing and joking and disguising coverages," quarterback Jonathan Crompton said. "I didn't see any difference in him."

Added Hardesty: "He looks like E.B. to me."

First-year head coach Lane Kiffin said Tuesday he's "100 percent" confident with Berry's health situation.

"We're not worried about it," Kiffin said. "Eric has played so well for two years, and that really is not a concern, him being physical. We know that's going to be the case.

"He's had a great camp. He's been all over the place. We're going to move him around to a bunch of different places on Saturdays, and I'm excited to see him play."

Kiffin's father, the Vols' defensive coordinator, said this summer that he'd "be crazy" not to have Berry playing "as much as possible and move him around as much as possible.

"I might be crazy, you know, but I'm not that crazy," Monte Kiffin added.

Another contact for Wes Rucker is www.twitter.com/wesrucker.