Kirby Smart delves into how Georgia will approach replacing Brock Bowers' productivity

Georgia lost star tight end Brock Bowers to an ankle sprain over the weekend, with Bowers undergoing tight-rope surgery to repair the issue as quickly as possible.

Coach Kirby Smart admitted losing Bowers is tough, though he said his team has a plan in place without Bowers.

“Any time you lose a player of Brock’s magnitude you have, we have contingency plans every week for really every position, it’s not just Brock’s,” Smart said Wednesday on an SEC teleconference call. “It’s every position of what if. You’ve got to have what ifs in this league. There’s a lot of injuries. It’s a tough, physical sport.”

Bowers suffered the injury in a game against Vanderbilt when he was tackled on a reverse that gained 14 yards. He was wrapped up around his lower left leg as he fell out of bounds, getting up a little gimpy.

After heading to the team’s medical tent, Bowers was eventually helped to the locker room. He did not return.

But Georgia managed relatively well without him, thanks to the contributions of backup Oscar Delp. Delp caught two passes for 32 yards in the Vanderbilt win and will be counted on to step up in a major way.

Smart pointed to Delp and others who stepped in right away.

“That’s one of those things we always look at, and fortunately we were going to have them mid-game or I guess early in the game in the first half, so we have other answers and we’ll have to go to that this week,” Smart said. “Really it’s not like we’re asking one person to make that difference, we’re going to make collective gains of what we’re looking for from everybody. So it’s a collective effort.”

So far this season Delp has recorded 13 catches for 160 yards and two touchdowns. But he hasn’t had more than three catches in a game this season, so his increased usage will likely be noticeable.

There’s a lot of production to replace with Brock Bowers injured.

Bowers led Georgia in receiving, tallying 41 catches for 567 yards and four touchdowns. The Bulldogs will be hoping to get him back as soon as possible.

Smart said Bowers was doing well with the injury.

“Brock Bowers is great, Brock Bowers is rock solid,” Smart said. “He wanted to get the thing done as soon as he found out it had to be done. We were able to expedite that process and he’s great. He’s looking everybody in the eye today and wishing he could be out there. So he’s in great spirits, he’s got great family, he’s got great heart, I mean he’s a warrior, so he’ll handle it the right way.”