Return possible for Darnell Washington, Tykee Smith vs. Vanderbilt
Georgia should be getting a pair of players back in the near future. Kirby Smart updated the status of Darnell Washington and Tykee Smith, both of whom suffered foot injuries during preseason practice, Monday when he met with the media ahead of the Bulldogs’ trip to Vanderbilt.
“We haven’t ruled out this weekend,” Smart said. “They are back, they were running at the end of last week weight-bearing, running on their own. We thought all along this would be the target, this week or next.”
“I can’t say that they’re going to be cleared for this game,” he continued. “I’ll find out a lot more today because they’re going to be able to run, and do some exercises. Not necessarily being in their groups, but they’ll be running and accelerating on their own, not just underwater and what we call alter-G where they don’t have 100 percent of their weight. They’re on 100 percent of their weight as of Thursday/Friday, we’re moving them forward, and we’ll see where they are today.”
Darnell Washington
Washington started seven of 10 games at tight end for Georgia in 2020. He caught seven passes for 166 yards. Two of his better performances came in the Bulldogs’ last two games of the season with a season-high 61 receiving yards against Missouri following up by a season-high three catches in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl versus Cincinnati.
Top 10
- 1Trending
Paul Finebaum
ESPN host rips CFP amid blowout
- 2Hot
Dick Vitale
ESPN legend rips Lane Kiffin
- 3New
ASU vs. Texas odds
Early Peach Bowl line released
- 4
Klatt blasts Kiffin
Ole Miss HC called out for tweets
- 5
Kirk Herbstreit
Calling out CFP after Indiana loss
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
“It’s always exciting to get players back,” Georgia tight end John FitzPatrick said of Washington’s return. “When injuries happen, and they do happen, it’s always a next man up mentality. But when you get players back, it always helps the team.”
Tykee Smith
Meanwhile, Smith will be a new addition to the Georgia secondary. He transferred to Athens after playing his first two seasons at West Virginia, where he started 17 games. Smith was named a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America in 2019, picking off two passes and totaling 53 tackles. He followed that up with an All-American campaign in 2020, making more tackles in fewer games.
“Tykee is a great athlete. He’s one of the best players in the nation, and he’s going to add much needed depth to this defense and can help us out on the field on Saturdays,” fellow secondary member Christopher Smith said. “He’s a hard worker, pays a lot of attention to details, a great tackler and good in coverage too. Those are things that we need that can help us out on defense.”
