Stetson Bennett on ailing TE Darnell Washington: 'Hopefully he'll be good to go'

One of the big question marks for Georgia entering next week’s College Football Playoff national championship is the availability of Darnell Washington. The Bulldogs’ star tight end suffered an injury in the Peach Bowl against Ohio State, throwing his status for the Jan. 9 matchup with TCU into question.

Kirby Smart said he’s “hoping” Washington and other injured Bulldogs will play, and Stetson Bennett expressed a similar sentiment.

“Darnell’s getting treatment,” Bennett said on a teleconference Tuesday. “He’s resting up. Hopefully, he’ll be good to go. He’s an unbelievable talent and he’s amazing.”

After Saturday’s game, Smart said he thought Washington suffered a high ankle sprain, but wasn’t entirely sure. He was seen in a walking boot and on crutches, watching from the sideline as Georgia came all the way back to knock off Ohio State 42-41 and head to a second consecutive national title game.

Washington is one of the top playmakers for Bennett and the Georgia offense, ranking fourth on the roster with 426 receiving yards this season. But Bennett said it’ll be next man up if Washington can’t go.

“If he can’t go, we’re just going to have other people step up,” Bennett said. “That’s the way it works here. It’s about the team. We want to have him, we would love to have him. He’s one of the game-changers we have. But if we don’t, then we still have to go win a football game.”

Kirby Smart updates status of Ladd McConkey, Darnell Washington, Chaz Chambliss vs TCU

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is hopeful to get wide receiver Ladd McConkey back for the national championship game against TCU, in addition to other injured Bulldogs.

“(I am) hoping (Ladd McConkey) is going to be even better this week,” Smart said in reference to McConkey’s knee injury.

Elsewhere, Smart said he was hopeful to get tight end Darnell Washington and defensive lineman Chaz Chambliss back for the game Monday. 

McConkey was a top target of Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback Stetson Bennett, connecting for 675 yards and five touchdowns on 51 catches. Only tight end Brock Bowers is better on the stat sheet for Georgia this season.

While speaking on a national championship conference call, Smart acknowledge Arian Smith got a lot of reps at wide receiver leading up to the Peach Bowl due to McConkey’s injury.

On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.