Dillon Bell injury update: Kirby Smart shares latest on Georgia ailments after Tennessee win
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia was a banged up football team coming into its game against Tennessee, and the Bulldogs remain that way coming out of it. Wide receiver Dillon Bell exited in the second quarter with an ankle injury and returned to the sidelines with a boot on his left foot. UGA head coach Kirby Smart told reporters after the game he wasn’t certain of the severity of Bell’s ailment but that it was the latest in a long line of injuries for the Bulldogs.
“It’s ankle. I don’t know if it’s got a high component,” Smart said. “We looked at it tonight. He was not able to go. I don’t know how severe it will be or how long it will be.”
“I mean, look, guys, there’s a bunch of injuries,” he continued. “Earnest Greene. I mean, we’ve had guy after guy after guy after guy go down. Smael (Mondon), CJ Allen both gave us great efforts tonight, but they were unable to practice all week. And the (running) back situations, Cash (Jones) doesn’t practice all week and makes himself available to help the team.”
Smart’s laundry list of injuries didn’t even include the team’s leading rusher Trevor Etienne, Georgia’s two other running backs on the availability report (Branson Robinson and Roderick Robinson) and offensive lineman Tate Ratledge – who missed four games midseason but has returned to the field since. Ratledge tried to push through pain – as well as a fever – last week against Ole Miss only to aggravate his prior ankle injury. Growing up in a family of Tennessee fans, Ratledge made sure he could give it a go Saturday versus the Volunteers.
“It’s probably the first game that we haven’t subbed an offensive lineman the whole time. And we were concerned about that because we didn’t know how Tate would hold up. And that game meant a lot to Tate. Tate grew up in a Tennessee family and a dad that was a Tennessee fan. That game’s a lot of pride to him. And I thought his energy and toughness really showed. And just a week ago, he dinged it and couldn’t go. And he went out there tonight and really played physical, played tough,” Smart said.
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Overall, Smart’s message about Georgia’s injury situation has been consistent. He’s not trying to use it as an excuse for the Bulldogs having two regular season losses for just the second time since his first season, rather it’s a reality of the new world of College Football.
“You’ve got to choose. You want to play these schedules like this, then you’re going to have that, you know? And they’re reducing our roster size, so it’s gonna make it even tougher,” Smart said.
Georgia should have a little bit of time to heal up with the SEC schedule complete. UGA hosts UMass next Saturday (12:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network) before closing out the regular season against in-state rival Georgia Tech on Black Friday.
