Tate Ratledge injury update: Latest on Georgia OL's status vs. Texas revealed

Georgia offensive lineman Tate Ratledge is not expected to play Saturday’s game against Texas, a source told On3’s Pete Nakos. The target date for his return is the game against Florida, which is set for Nov. 2 in Athens.

Ratledge was listed as questionable on the latest availability report, which came out Thursday evening. A new update is set to come out Friday ahead of Saturday night’s primetime, Top-5 matchup.

Ratledge suffered a high ankle sprain against Kentucky that required tightrope surgery and hasn’t played since. Georgia coach Kirby Smart provided a promising update on his recovery and said he was running in practice this week.

“He’s much closer,” Smart said. “He’s running. He’s on dry land running, pushing it. He’s got a custom-made brace. We keep hoping he gets better.”

Tate Ratledge has made 31 starts throughout his career, making him one of Georgia’s most experienced linemen. He was a second-team All-American and first-team All-SEC selection last season before opting to return for one more year with the Bulldogs.

Georgia and Texas are gearing up to play in the biggest game of the year to this point. It’s the Bulldogs’ second Top-5 matchup in SEC action already this season, and they’ll look to avoid a second loss as they make the rare trip to Austin.

All eyes are on the quarterbacks, though, as Carson Beck and Quinn Ewers will look to continue their cases for the first round of the NFL Draft. Smart pointed out the challenges of facing Ewers, who has built a track record of strong performances in big games. While he hasn’t had a chance to watch the Texas quarterback much, the way Ewers handles pressure stands out to Smart.

“It doesn’t seem pressure affects him much,” Smart said. “He seems like he has really good composure … they both have the ability, if something goes wrong, to get you out of a bad play, and typically avoid catastrophes. That’s what both quarterbacks do and (those are) the similarities that they seem to have.”