Kirby Smart: Brock Bowers 'said he's 100%' after appearing to tweak leg injury

Although he’s been on the field in the second half, Brock Bowers hasn’t looked fully healthy for Georgia. He was tackled by a Tennessee defender early in the third quarter and came up with a limp in his second game back after tightrope ankle surgery.

Ahead of the fourth quarter, though, Kirby Smart said Bowers told him he was fine. He even made sure multiple times and got the same answer.

“He said he’s 100%,” Smart told CBS’ Jenny Dell. “I asked him five times. But he’s doing a great job. I think he’s healthy, he’s competitive, he’s giving us everything he can. He’s just such a great kid.”

Bowers was tackled by a Tennessee defender with 14:44 to play in the game and, although he ran a route on the next play, stood on the sidelines after the Vols went three and out. He ultimately came back in, but Dell reported Bowers called upstairs — presumably to offensive coordinator Mike Bobo — while the trainers took a look at him.

“Other than what you already said about Bowers limping off that field, five trainers around him. He did call up to the booth, I would imagine talking to his OC and quarterback coach in Mike Bobo,” Dell said on the broadcast. “Now, currently, on the sidelines, so I’ll update you on that.”

Bowers is in his second game back after undergoing tightrope ankle surgery. He suffered the injury in Georgia’s victory over Vanderbilt, and he returned to the field just 26 days later.

During his time away from the field, Brock Bowers said he learned some things about himself that could make him better down the road.

“I guess just learning how to work through things, having a purpose to come back and wanting to come back,” Bowers said. “It kind of made me appreciate the things I had before, because when you get in the grind, you don’t really think about it. When it gets taken away from you that fast, you’re like, ‘Man, this sucks,’ then you’ve got to get back into it. It kind of gives you a whole new perspective on it.”

Tennessee struck first in Saturday’s game with a 75-yard touchdown run from Jaylen Wright on the game’s first play. It was all Georgia after that, though, as the Bulldogs outscored the Volunteers 38-3 after that to take full control in their final SEC matchup of the regular season.