Kirby Smart offers injury update on Arian Smith, timeline for return

As the Georgia Bulldogs gear up to face off against SEC East rival, the South Carolina Gamecocks, head coach Kirby Smart offered up an injury update on redshirt sophomore wide receiver Arian Smith. Smart also outlines a timeline for his young talented wideouts return as he recovers from surgery.

“Yeah, Arian’s coming back. He’s been able to do some weight-bearing running. He’s been hitting some good speeds,” said Smart. “Hopefully, he’ll be able to get back. We don’t know when he’s going to get back. I’m doubtful he gets back this week. But he is back running. Not 100 percent, but I’m excited for what he’s been able to do. He’s not cutting it, but he’s getting better, and you can see it in his eyes. Getting healthier, I just got no idea when he’s going to be back.”

It was a bad break for Smith and the Bulldogs as the young wide receiver suffered an ankle injury in the team’s fall camp. That injury required surgery which he has already successfully undergone. Smith’s original recovery timetable was two months, marking his possible return sometime around the Bulldogs match up against the Florida Gators in late October.

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Smith was positioned to have a breakout season for Georgia. Last year he only had three catches. But those three catches were good for 102 yards and two touchdowns.

The Bulldogs offense has looked impressive early, led by College Football Playoff MVP quarterback Stetson Bennett. However, Bennett and Smart would not mind having another stout weapon on the field and Smith as soon as possible.

Smart addresses being No. 1 in the country and reaction of it being ‘no big deal’

Kirby Smart’s team has jumped in the AP Poll each of the first two weeks of the college football season. Georgia opened as No. 3 in the preseason, stepped up to No. 2 after their opener, and took the top spot on Sunday after week two. Even so, Smart couldn’t care less about rankings at this point of the year.

Smart talked about the digit in front of the Bulldog’s name during media on Monday. He said it literally means nothing right now when looking at the rest of their season.

“It’s never a big deal. It only matters at the end of the year,” said Smart. “I don’t know that we’ve spent many weeks outside of the Top-10 and it never mattered whether we were inside the Top-10 or outside the Top-10. It just is irrelevant.”

This is the second straight season the AP Poll has ranked Georgia No. 1 at some point in the year. Their demolition of Oregon in their opener justified their movement to No. 2 last week. While they handled business against Samford this weekend, it was Alabama’s struggles against Texas that moved the Dawgs to the top spot.