Kirby Smart updates JT Daniels' injury, status for Auburn

The biggest storyline in Athens, Ga. for several weeks now has been the health of quarterback JT Daniels. He missed the Bulldogs’ Week 2 win over UAB with an oblique strain, and on Saturday, sat out of Georgia’s 37-0 victory against Arkansas. This time it was for a “grade 1 lat strain.”

So, even if Georgia head coach Kibry Smart doesn’t want Daniels to be the storyline, it makes sense why he would be asked about his health on Monday ahead of a top-20 matchup against Auburn.

“As far as JT, he isn’t going to do anything today,” Smart told reporters at in-person media availability. “He’ll be out there. He’s practicing. He’s doing everything but throwing and then we’ll see how it goes day-to-day.”

“The biggest thing is he’s got to rest, recover, and try to heal,” he continued. “So we’re very hopeful that he’ll be able to go Tuesday, Wednesday, and be able to throw like he was able to do last week some days. But he’s not going to do much today in terms of throwing. There’s a lot more to quarterback than just throwing the ball and he does a lot of that stuff well and he’ll still do all of those things today.”

In Daniels’ absence, both times, Georgia went with Stetson Bennett as the team’s starting quarterback. He led Georgia to a 56-7 win over UAB, throwing for 288 yards and five touchdowns, which ties the school record for passing touchdowns in a game. This past Saturday, he was asked to do less, going 7-for-11 with just 72 yards.

All this begs the question, what is the severity of Daniels’ injury, and what will it take for him to get back on the field? Smart and company have sought out the advice of several medical experts including some with the Dallas Cowboys that dealt with their quarterback having a similar injury.

“As there is in everything in the medical field, there’s these people that think they can fix it really fast. But that’s not necessarily the case,” Smart said. “I know that wasn’t the case with (Dak Prescott). Dak’s was much more extreme than what JT is going through. We did some more scans on JT’s just to confirm what we thought it was and what we’ve thought it was all along because we did scans even after Vanderbilt. So it is what it is and I think it’s going to be a time thing. It’s really, No. 1 pain tolerance, No. 2 can you get it to heal so it’s not a nagging, reoccurring, long-term injury. It’s unfortunate because it’s a tough injury.”

Other Injuries

JT Daniels isn’t the only Bulldog who is banged up. Darnell Washington made his return to the field last Saturday, however, Tykee Smith didn’t. Those two dealt with foot injuries during preseason practice and missed the first four games. In the case of Washington, Smart said that he felt good enough to go on Saturday. Not so much for Smith.

“Tykee, no, he was not in the same boat (as Darnell Washington). He was not able to go as much as (Washington),” Smart said. “You’ve got to be able to practice to be able to play. One thing we don’t do here is when you don’t practice, you can’t play. Tykee was at practice and he tried to go in practice but it’s tougher on him with the movements he has to have. He’s reacting to movement as opposed to going in a direction, so it’s different for him. He’ll be the first to tell you that he’s not 100 percent but he’ll also be the first to tell you that he’s trying his hardest to get back and pushing through. So we’ll continue to work with him to be able to do that and hopefully he’ll be able to go.”

Georgia’s also dealing with a depleted group of wide receivers. Smart said that six or seven scholarship receivers are healthy right now. That’s because Dominick Blaylock, Arian Smith and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint continue to deal with injuries.

“As far as those other guys, we’re hopeful,” Smart said. “Dom’s has been a hamstring. It’s been a nagging hamstring. He’s going to warm up, loosen up today early and then hopefully be able to get some reps but whether he’s 100 percent or not, I don’t know. Arian, the same way and then Marcus Rosemy the same way. They’re all three much closer this week than they were last week but none of them are for definite in.”