Georgia injury report entering Alabama week
Georgia defeated Georgia Tech 45-0 on Saturday to wrap up the regular season undefeated, but it wasn’t without a little bit of damage done on the injury front. The Bulldogs have been banged up for quite some time, and while some of those who have missed time have made their way back to the field, others remain sidelined.
Jamaree Salyer (foot) and Christopher Smith (knee) fall into the latter of the two categories, each missing the rivalry game.
Salyer initially suffered his injury prior to the Missouri game. A week later, he dressed against Tennessee but did not play. The same went for Charleston Southern, however against Georgia Tech, Salyer was in street clothes. That’s because he suffered a setback in the leadup into the game. This isn’t Salyer’s first injury this season, leaving the Auburn game with an ankle injury before returning to the starting lineup the next week against Kentucky. In his place each time he’s been sent to the sideline has been redshirt freshman Broderick Jones, who now has four starts under his belt plus several games of extended action.
As for Smith, his injury came prior to Charleston Southern. The incident in practice was described as his knee “buckled.” Smith was in pads to go through the Senior Day ceremony prior to that game but was seen going through the Dawg Walk on crutches. He was very slow to get out to midfield during the ceremony and was seen at practice this past Monday on the exercise bike. According to his head coach, Smith had not been cleared on Monday or Tuesday.
“It was not precautionary, we tried to get both of them ready to go. They were both fighting back,” Smart said about Salyer and Smith after the game.
We thought Jamaree was back, and he had a little setback – I don’t know if it was Tuesday or Wednesday. It wasn’t the same injury he had before, it was some scar tissue. But we’re hoping we’ll be able to get him back, and hopeful for Chris, too.”
As for in-game injuries, Kearis Jackson appeared to be the only Bulldog who left worse than he came in. Jackson was announced in the press box as “out” due to a rib injury. Prior to exiting, he had one catch for 16 yards as well as a pair of punt returns for another 20. After the game, Smart had not heard anything more than what he was told on the sideline.
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“I thought he was going to be able to go back,” Smart said. “It’s a little bit of a rib injury. I don’t know how different it is from the one he had from a while back. I asked him and he said it was pretty painful and didn’t think he could go so held him out at that point.”
Other injury news includes the return of George Pickens and Nolan Smith. Pickens made his season-debut after suffering a torn ACL in the spring. He caught one pass for five yards. Meanwhile, Smith got back on the field after missing the Charleston Southern game. He suffered an elbow injury in the fourth quarter of the Tennessee game, and finished with four tackles including half a tackle for loss. He also had a quarterback pressure.
No. 1 Georgia (12-0, 8-0 SEC) and No. 3 Alabama (11-1, 7-1 SEC) tee it up for the SEC Championship on Saturday in Atlanta, Ga. Kickoff time is set for 4:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
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