Georgia football injury report for Mississippi State

One more sleep until a Georgia game day as the Bulldogs travel west to take on Mississippi State. It’s UGA’s first trip to Starkville, Miss. since 2010 and Kirby Smart’s team is looking for win No. 10. A victory would also clinch the SEC East.

Georgia is still battling quite a few injuries heading into this game. DawgsHQ offers our latest report on those injuries as far as we know.

Out…

RB Andrew Paul (knee): The late addition to a No. 3-ranked 2022 haul for Georgia was pushing for a spot in the rotation before suffering a torn ACL in the second and final preseason scrimmage. Paul had surgery to repair that injury and will miss the entire 2022 season.

ILB C.J. Washington (neck): We don’t know when Washington might make a return to the football field. The true freshman suffered a neck injury during spring practice and while we’re told that he’s doing well, he hasn’t been able to practice since.

OL Drew Bobo (shoulder): The son of Georgia analyst Mike Bobo will be out until spring after having surgery to repair a torn labrum. He had the injury when he arrived at UGA and Kirby Smart says he went as long as he could before getting the procedure.

OL Earnest Greene (back): Georgia could get the giant offensive lineman back in the postseason but no sooner. He had a procedure to correct an issue in his back and will miss the rest of the 2022 regular season. Greene was competing for playing time at guard during preseason camp.

OL Jacob Hood (lower body): The mammoth offensive lineman has been banged up to some extent since spring drills and maybe before that. He missed Georgia spring practice with a foot injury and had a tough time staying healthy in the preseason. Hood hasn’t been available for a game yet this season.

OLB Nolan Smith (pectoral muscle): This is a big one. Georgia won’t have its emotional leader who is also tops on the team in sacks and tackles for loss. Smith’s presence will be missed both against the run and the pass. There’s an extreme outside chance that Smith could be ready in late December or January, but no sooner than that. Robert Beal will play a ton and the rest of the snaps will be handled by committee.

Doubtful…

WR AD Mitchell (ankle): If we could, we would place him somewhere between doubtful and questionable. The sophomore wideout was injured on UGA’s first play from scrimmage against Samford. He missed the rest of that game and the next three before making a return to the playing field against Auburn. He did not play against Vanderbilt, Florida or Tennessee and we now know he’s dealing with the dreaded high-ankle sprain. It will be interesting to see if he travels. He did for the Florida game but didn’t dress out.

Questionable…

OL Xavier Truss (turf toe): Truss has played really well for Georgia of late but he has also been dealing with a nagging toe injury. Smart indicated last week that Truss hadn’t practiced much. He has done more this week but Devin Willock might be in line to get his second career start.

OL Amarius Mims (knee): The sophomore offensive tackle suffered a knee injury against Florida and it looked way worse than it actually was. Mims has been able to practice quite a bit since suffering that injury and we’re told that he was available if needed against Tennessee. If UGA can get by without having to use Mims on Saturday, it will probably go that route.

Probable

OLB Robert Beal (stinger): The sixth-year senior left the Tennessee game in the second quarter with what was labeled as a neck injury. We never saw him come back to the sideline and that made it seem worse than it was. Smart says its a stinger and that the staff feels good about him playing against Mississippi State.

OLB Darris Smith (concussion): The Appling County High School product suffered a concussion on the opening kickoff of the second half against Florida. He did not play last week against Tennessee when he normally would have, at least on the kickoff team. Smith should be back for Mississippi State as Smart told reporters earlier in the week that Smith was doing everything in practice.