Georgia injury updates: Kirby Smart provides latest on spring practice availability

Spring has sprung and with that football practice has begun around the country. That includes in Athens, where Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart knows that it’s important to keep his team healthy and continue to rehab those returning from injuries last season.

This year, Georgia is going to be without several players for the entirety of spring practice. Most of those are related to offseason surgeries at this point, and when Smart met with the media he went through the list of players who aren’t able to go yet.

“Guys that are out for spring, I think we have nine total guys,” Kirby Smart said. “I do a year-to-year average, I think 2024, we had 12 outs. 2023, we had eight outs. 2022, we had 14 outs. I think we’re at eight or nine, depending on how you classify a couple guys.”

Kirby Smart went through the players who are out by what type of injury they’re dealing with right now. First, there is a group of players coming off shoulder surgeries, though Smart seems relatively unconcerned about those injuries.

“We’ve got five shoulder surgeries that happen at the end of the year. Those are all rehabbing right now. They’re in really good progression in terms of getting back. Monroe [Freeling], Gabe [Harris Jr.], Colton [Heinrich], Christen Miller, and Jaylan Morgan all had labral repairs,” Smart said. “Which is very common. I had it when I played here. That’s, I think, five of those. We’ve averaged five to six every spring.”

After that, Smart turned his attention to players who had leg injuries. That includes multiple knee injuries, an ankle injury, and then a foot injury. Again, while those injuries are not ideal, Smart is relatively positive, sharing that they’ll get some limited work in during the spring.

“Then, we’ve got Ryan Montgomery, who has the ACL repair, Branson [Robinson], who had the PCL repair, Rod Robinson, who had the ankle repair,” Smart said. “And then [Brett] Thorson, who you know had the ACL and MCL repair. Those are all guys that are working through things. They may be available for maybe some things in spring, like walk-through type things, but not in practice spring. And then limited, Joseph Jonah-Ajonye, coming off the foot navicular surgery he had. He looks great. He’s working out, running. He’ll be limited to start spring and try to get to work his way back.”

In total, that’s three defensive linemen, two running backs, a quarterback, a tight end, an offensive lineman, a defensive back, and a punter who are missing the spring. The hope for Smart and Georgia is that those numbers don’t grow with any additional injuries. For now, though, the Bulldogs seem to be in a solid situation overall.

“That’s kind of where we are from a medical standpoint. We do have some soft tissue injuries coming out of the offseason, but nothing substantial there. So, I’m excited where we are in terms of guys being able to be out there because we’ve got a lot of healthy guys that can get reps,” Smart said. “So, I’m excited about where we are for the spring.”