Ladd McConkey expected back at practice this week after shutdown
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia wide receiver Ladd McConkey has yet to make his season debut. Missing each of the first four games due to a back injury, McConkey’s situation has been described as frustrating by head coach Kirby Smart.
How so? It’s different than your typical injury. As opposed to others like an ankle sprain or pulled hamstring, Smart and his staff haven’t had to deal with one like McConkey’s before.
Smart said on Monday that McConkey was shut down for the most part the last two weeks. That was advised to him by experts. However, the plan for McConkey is to get him back in practice this week ahead of Auburn with hope that he’s back on the field before long.
“He’s got to be able to practice. That’s a big part of it. He’s going to be able to come back to practice this week and we’re going to be able to do some more things with him. How he does in this things will determine whether or not he’s able to play,” Smart said on Monday. “We had a two-week advised shut down, he’s done that we’re expecting him to be able to go out there today and do some things non-contact early in the week and move through that.”
“He’s right out there, man. This dude is, like, on the sideline right by me, high-fiving me, talking to the players. I mean, he is a gym rat to the word. It’s killing him not to be out there,” Smart added on Saturday. “I can only imagine if that’s my, I forget what year it is for him, third or fourth year in the program and you’re just not able to go out there and help. It’s all he wants to do. That’s been hard on him. Hopefully he gets healthy enough to help us.”
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McConkey’s teammates have been supportive of him through the process too. They know how tough it is for someone who’s contributed in the past to be sidelined in a season when so much was expected of him.
“It’s always tough to do that with an injury. I think Ladd’s done a great job of staying locked in, staying with the team,” tight end Brock Bowers said. “We’re trying to support him through it all because I know it’s tough. He wants to be out there playing. He’s just staying ready. We’ll see how he does the next couple of weeks.”
McConkey was named First-Team All-SEC in the preseason and was on the watch list for both the Biletnikoff Award and Wuerffel Trophy. He earned Second-Team All-SEC last season starting 14 of 15 games and finishing second on the team in receptions and yards with 58 for 762. He tied for the team-high in receiving touchdowns with seven.
Georgia takes on Auburn in the 128th meeting between the two teams. Kickoff time for the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry is set for 3:30 p.m. ET at Jordan-Hare Stadium on CBS as the SEC Game of the Week.
