Kirby Smart updates status of Jamaree Salyer, discusses challenges of Alabama defense

Heading into the SEC Championship against Alabama, Georgia is going to have questions at the left tackle position. Starter Jamaree Salyer has been out since the Missouri game, suffering a foot injury.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart gave an update on Salyer, saying they wanted him to play against Georgia Tech on Saturday. However, due to a minor set back he did not play. His status against Alabama is unknown.

“Don’t know the answer to that,” Smart said during his press conference on Monday. “Jamaree (Salyer) is going to practice today. Jamaree had a setback last week, it was minor but it was enough that he couldn’t play this past week. You know, we wanted to get him out there. We thought he was going to play against Georgia Tech but once he had the setback, it was a little tougher for him too. We’ll find out where he’s at. It’s really up to how he practices and what he does.”

Smart said even if Sayler is not fully up to speed, he has played enough games to be ready if called upon. Going up against teammates in practice every week will help as well.

“Good news is he’s played a lot of SEC football, he’s blocked some really good players before,” Smart said. “They have some tremendous edge rush guys, including Will (Anderson) and others. They do a good job attacking against that but you know, he has to go against really good pass rushers all camp. Every Thursday, he gets to go up against our guys and compete in two minute, things like that. If he’s healthy, I feel good about it in Jamaree being able to play.”

Smart confident in Broderick Jones as well

While having Sayler out there would certainly be a plus for Georgia, Smart is confident if backup Broderick Jones has to play. He cites a few of the crucial road games he’s played in as a major reason.

“Broderick (Jones) has played in some big games now too,” Smart said. “He’s gone on the road and played in an Auburn environment and Tennessee where he got to play. I’m please with what Broderick has been able to do. Broderick is a really good athlete.”

Smart went on the lay out what Georgia needs to do to get a win against Alabama. Either way, he’s excited for the matchup.

“They got good players, we got good players, they get to go against each other,” said Smart. “Excited to see him go play but I am not sitting here just overly concerned about left tackle. We got to block, we got to throw and catch, we got to be able to run the ball, we got to be able to have some for of balance. We got to do what we do better than what they do.