Talented Tennessee Volunteers offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. sat out his team's season-opening 45-26 win over the Syracuse Orange during Week 1 of college football action. The right tackle missed the Week 1 clash against the Orange on Aug. 30 with a shoulder injury sustained during training.On Saturday, On3 analyst Chris Low reported on X that Sanders was also due to miss the Vols' clash against non-conference opponents, the East Tennessee State Buccaneers. Low further revealed that the freshman was expected to be ready for Tennessee's big game against the Georgia Bulldogs in Knoxville next weekend."Confirming ⁦@AustinPriceless⁩’ earlier report, Tennessee freshman OT David Sanders is expected to miss second straight game today vs. ETSU. Will be re-evaluated before the game. Looks like Sanders’ first college start will come next week vs. Georgia," Low tweeted.Josh Heupel is optimistic about David Sanders' injuryDavid Sanders is a former five-star prospect who was the No. 11 overall prospect in the class of 2025 according to 247Sports, and his debut for the Tennessee Volunteers was highly anticipated by Vols fans.After a huge rebuilding job by coach Josh Heupel, who lost a huge chunk of his offensive line to both the NFL draft and the transfer portal, Sanders was chalked up as an immediate starter for the SEC heavyweights.During his weekly news conference after the offensive lineman missed the Vols' clash against the Syracuse Orange, Heupel gave an optimistic outlook on Sanders' injury and his subsequent recovery.“Just late in practice on Wednesday kind of got nicked up,” Josh Heupel said. “Anticipated him being able to play. This morning, our medical staff just felt like it probably wasn’t the right thing to do."We are always going to be mindful of our guys and their health. If they get cleared they’re ready to roll and we’ll go play with them. Anticipate him being back as we get going next week."Sanders' absence during the Vols' win against the Orange forced Heupel to completely reshuffle his offensive line. Right guard Jesse Perry occupied Sanders' right tackle position while former Arizona Wildcats star Wendell Moe Jr. shifted from left to right guard and Shamurad Umarov was promoted to the starting lineup as the left guard.Heupel will sweat on David Sanders' injury status ahead of the Vols' pivotal clash against SEC heavyweights, the Georgia Bulldogs, who will visit the Neyland Stadium in Week 3's marquee clash.