Kirby Smart announces season-ending injuries for freshmen offensive linemen

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia head coach Kirby Smart announced on Tuesday a pair of season-ending injuries to freshmen offensive linemen. Earnest Greene and Drew Bobo both have already had surgeries that’ll sideline them through the season but allow them to hopefully return in time for spring practice.

“Drew had a labrum repair that he came in with. He battled through it, we wanted to see how long he could go with it this year knowing that we’d probably have to repair it. He went maybe two or three weeks into the season and had the labrum repaired. He’ll be coming back in the spring,” Smart said. “Earnest also had a surgery. He had a back surgery. It’s been bothering. We’ve had problems with it. It was one of those things that we tried to treat, but we got to the point that the doctors advised us at this point to take care of it and get it fixed so that he can come back and be healthy. We’re expecting him to come back during bowl practice, at the end there in January and be able to lift and go full speed getting into spring.”

Greene was Georgia’s highest-rated offensive lineman in the Class of 2022, one that featured five signees in the position group. Ranked the No. 48 overall player and the No. 3 interior offensive lineman in the country out of St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.), Greene chose Georgia over the likes of Alabama, Ohio State and Texas. He enrolled early and practiced with the team this spring before missing time during fall camp due to a hamstring injury. Greene had not yet made an appearance in a game yet before his surgery but did travel with the team to South Carolina, a game that the Bulldogs were limited to just 70 players due to SEC roster restrictions.

As for Bobo, the son of former Georgia quarterback and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, he flipped his commitment from Auburn to Georgia following his father’s firing from the Tigers’ staff. Coming out of Auburn High School (Auburn, Ala.), Bobo was ranked the No. 642 player overall and the No. 49 interior offensive lineman per the On3 Consensus. Like Greene, Bobo had not made an appearance in any game to date and had been seen on the sidelines in a shoulder sling at recent games.

Kirby Smart also shared an update on freshman running back Andrew Paul who suffered a torn ACL during fall camp. Paul, a late addition to the class for Georgia signing with the Bulldogs in February as the No. 432 overall player and No. 33 running back out of Parish Episcopal School (Dallas, Texas), had gotten off to a strong start to fall camp before the injury. He had even been ahead of fellow freshman running back Branson Robinson at times during portions of practice open to the media.

“He’s doing good. I get to visit with him once or twice a week in the Bones dining hall area. He’s a quiet kid, so you always worry about a guy when he’s not the team as much when he’s injured,” Smart said. “But he’s rehabbing. He couldn’t be with a better athletic training staff. I know Ron (Courson) has a great history with the ACL recoveries, and we’re expecting him to come back stronger than ever.”

Georgia is 7-0 on the year with five games left to play in the regular season including rival Florida, a top-10 Tennessee team, road games at Mississippi State and Kentucky as well as a home contest against Georgia Tech to close things out. The stretch has been looked at for quite some time as the hardest that the Bulldogs will face all season being away from home three out of the next four weeks on top of playing some tough teams.

Kickoff time for Saturday’s game versus Florida is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS. Kirby Smart has a 4-2 record against the Gators during his time as a head coach in Athens with the wins being largely decisive.