Mykel Williams suffers ankle sprain, Kirby Smart offers Georgia injury update
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia has turned its attention to Tennessee Tech, and head coach Kirby Smart spoke with reporters midday Monday. Part of his address was an injury update for a couple of key Bulldogs and what their availability for this weekend could look like.
Mykel Williams exited the game in the third quarter on Saturday with what TV reported to be an ankle injury. Smart confirmed that after the fact and told reporters X-rays came back negative. However, he wanted to wait and see what another look in Athens had to say before going into too much detail. He shared that on Monday.
Mykel has an ankle sprain. It’s a grade 2 but it’s stable,” Smart said. “He’ll be week to week. Probably questionable this week but it’s not going to be a long term ankle. We’ll see.”
Prior to his injury, Williams was impactful in the 34-3 win. The junior edge defender recorded two stops, both for loss.
Georgia’s defense was also without Warren Brinson and Joenel Aguero for the majority of the game. Brinson played three snaps before being injured on the opening series while Aguero warmed up but did not see the field after suffering a pull of some sort during lead-up to the opener in practice the week before.
“Joenel was close to being able to play. Worked out before the game, thought he might be able to go in an emergency. Don’t really know any more today. We just did a walk through, he walked through. Hoping he’ll be able to go this week,” Smart said. “Warren has got a little bit of an ankle contusion. Wasn’t able to go, and we’re hopeful he’s able to go.”
UGA was already without defensive linemen Jordan Hall (leg) and Xzavier McLeod (undisclosed) for the opener. Their injuries are not season ending but could keep them out for multiple contests. Defensive lineman Nazir Stackhouse went down with an injury but returned to the game while wide receiver Dillon Bell exited with cramps but was available for interviews.
“Just tough guys, man. I can’t say how they played. I didn’t watch it specifically. But to play the plays they played, the number of snaps, the volume they’ve taken, they have been extremely durable and extremely tough,” Smart said postgame about the defensive line’s impact down several contributors. “Tray (Scott) has done a great job of bringing the young players along in that room, and we’re getting a blessing in some ways of getting all these young guys ready while we’re trying to get healthy. That could really pay dividends late in the year if we get everybody back.”
Georgia takes on Tennessee Tech this coming Saturday at Sanford Stadium. Kickoff time between the hedges is set for 2:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network+. The Bulldogs then have trips to Lexington (Kentucky) and Tuscaloosa (Alabama) later this month to open SEC play.
