Georgia WR Ladd McConkey expected to play vs. Ohio State
Barring a setback or additional injuries, No. 1 Georgia should have its full complement of wide receivers for the College Football Playoff semifinal matchup with No. 4 Ohio State. Trusted sources tell DawgsHQ that redshirt sophomore wideout Ladd McConkey (knee) is practicing and is in line to play against the Buckeyes.
That same source added that McConkey looked good in Monday’s practice. He had not practice much, if at all, with the team prior to breaking for Christmas.
The tone of Kirby Smart’s voice sounded optimistic as he spoke about UGA’s injury situation on Monday but his words didn’t offer much insight. Smart said that he is hopeful that McConkey and fourth-year junior right tackle Warren McClendon will be available against the Buckeyes.
McClendon is still a question mark per persons with knowledge of the situation. Smart labeled McClendon’s injury as a “slight MCL” after the LSU game. He hasn’t responded as well to the injury as Amarius Mims. He only missed one game with it earlier this year.
McConkey initially went down with just over a minute left in the first half. He was tackled going out of bounds after a 22-yard gain. When the defenders got up and returned to the huddle, McConkey stayed down, clutching his right knee. Smart told reporters after the game that he had basically aggravated a preexisting condition, tendonitis, in that knee.
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McConkey is Georgia’s most lethal weapon on the outside in 2022. He has 51 catches for 675 yards and five scores on the year while adding 120 rushing yards and two scores on the ground. He trails just Kenny McIntosh and Brock Bowers in total yards on the year.
The Bulldogs had just gotten healthy at wideout when McConkey went down. Sophomore split end AD Mitchell had essentially missed 11 straight games before playing 15 snaps in the SEC Championship game. He was targeted just once but he did complete a pass to Darnell Washington to convert a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter.
McConkey has played through a myriad of minor injuries this season. In addition to dealing with knee tendonitis, Smart mentioned earlier this season that McConkey was also battling injuries to his toe and ankle. He added that the staff sometimes has to back the play-making wideout off in practice so those ailments can mend.
“Ladd is good,” Smart said during UGA’s bye week. “Ladd could have gone back in. Ladd’s fine, but Ladd has a toe injury. I mentioned you guys before, this is different than the ankle. So, with the ankle and the toe, we’re giving him some medicine and taking care of him and cutting back some on this week. But again, he could have come back in the game, and he could play this Saturday if we were playing this Saturday, but we’re going to shut him down for a little bit, for a couple days, and try to get some medicine in there and try to get him back a for a stretch run so he can go.”
