Skip to main content
georgia logo

Kirby Smart gives indication on Jalen Carter, AD Mitchell for Florida

On3 imageby:Jake Rowe•10/25/22•

JakeMRowe

On3 image
Steve Limentani/ISI Photos/Getty Images

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia will probably get a couple of players back from injury against Florida but Kirby Smart doesn’t seem very confident on a couple of others. The seventh-year head coach spoke to reporters after Tuesday’s practice and said that sophomore inside linebacker Smael Mondon has looked “really good” and has “taken all his reps” the past couple of days.

When it comes to junior defensive tackle Jalen Carter (knee) and sophomore wideout AD Mitchell (ankle), Smart indicated that neither will be able to play against the Gators. He said that Carter has looked better Mitchell this week. He also said that both players have been able to do some things on the practice field which is progress for Carter, who has been rehabbing full time the past two weeks.

Jalen Carter has been out since the Missouri game with a sprained MCL but he has been dealing with one injury or another since the season opening win over Oregon. Carter sustained a sprained ankle in that Oregon game and played roughly 30 snaps in Georgia’s next three games. He appeared to be close to full strength as the Bulldogs traveled to Missouri but then came the knee injury on an illegal chop block.

Most consider Carter as Georgia’s most talented defender. He has been widely projected as a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft with quite a few analysts putting him inside the top 10 or even top five.

AD Mitchell sustained an ankle injury on Georgia’s first play from scrimmage in a week-two win over Samford. Smart told reporters for the first time on Monday that Mitchell’s injury was the dreaded high-ankle sprain, which takes longer to recover.

“AD is a high ankle sprain,” Smart said on Monday. “And high ankle sprains when you talk to everybody across the NFL and across college football, it’s hard to pinpoint a measurement. The first thing you look for is do they need to do the repair? They do the tightrope and things like Arian did. His was not that kind of injury. But it is lingering. It’s a pain in the butt. So he’s battling to come back and doing everything we ask. In terms of Jalen, it’s the knee right now. It’s the MCL. But the degree of that, severity of that just depends on conditioning level, how fast he can get back. He’s working to get back and we’re hopeful to get both of them back.”

Smart told reporters at Monday’s media day that Kendall Milton (hamstring) has been able to get back to practice. He called Milton “probably probable” for the Vanderbilt game last week.

The annual showdown between Georgia and Florida in Jacksonville is set for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff. The game will be televised by CBS as the SEC Game of The Week

You may also like