Mykel Williams injury update: Final status emerges for Georgia star DL vs. Alabama

Star Georgia edge rusher Mykel Williams appears set to play against Alabama on Saturday night, making his return from an ankle injury. Williams was listed as a “game time decision” on the final injury report.

During pregame warmups, Williams appeared to participate in all the drills with his teammates. And while he is apparently available, Williams is not expected to play a full snap load in his return for the Bulldogs, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Williams has been out since early in the season with a sprained ankle. On Saturday morning, it was reported his status would be determined shortly before kickoff.

Earlier in the week, head coach Kirby Smart shared that it was too early to tell on the edge rusher’s status.

“Mykel’s been able to do a little bit,” Smart said on Tuesday. “I still don’t know timeline on Mykel. He’s looked good running and taking some reps, some light reps, some rush reps, some stuff he did today — it was his first day really getting out there and doing some things.

Williams, for his part, is one of the top defenders in the country and considered one of the top draft prospects not only at edge rusher, but in the entire class. He’s been out since leaving Georgia’s Week 1 win with a Grade 2 ankle sprain, and was seen in a walking boot ahead of Week 2.

Kalen DeBoer has been keenly studying the Bulldogs

Kalen DeBoer’s first game in the crucible of SEC competition is against one of the best teams in the country, as Georgia is set to visit Alabama. But the Crimson Tide’s new head coach is looking in some key places to learn all he can about the competition.

First and foremost, he’s been digging into the film of Georgia’s most recent game, a 13-12 slog victory over Kentucky. Speaking on the “Pat McAfee Show” on Friday, DeBoer shared some of what he’s taken away from that tape, including that Georgia is likely far more dangerous than it seemed that night.

“Yeah, I think the part you said, there: It’s early in the season and so there is — every team is still trying to work out the kinks and you hope you have a really good sense of what your identity is, but some times it’s a little different than even what you thought,” DeBoer said. “And you’re trying to build that. The Kentucky game against Georgia, just extremely physical and you certainly do look at that and you try to take from it but you also know, especially with the bye week here that Georgia is going to continue to evolve, continue to understand what they do well and find the ways that they feel that they can attack us the best.”

But DeBoer is also looking beyond just the last game on tape, too.

He knows there’s plenty to be gleaned from the last Alabama-Georgia matchup, the 2023 SEC Championship Game where the Crimson Tide beat the Bulldogs with many of the same players still on each roster.

“And so you look at that game but you’ve gotta look at, also, more things,” DeBoer said. “There was a game played last fall, last December, the championship and there’s a lot of the same personnel on both sides and scheme as well. Of course offensively, defensively we’re a little different but we’re going to take the things from that and add to everything else we’re putting in when it comes to the game plan.”