Georgia football: Dawgs see health improve before the UF game

Georgia football has an extremely long injury list, but thankfully the Dawgs had two weeks to rest up ahead of the annual Florida game in Jacksonville.

Granted, the Dawgs had another injury occur in practice, justifying when the players say it’s more challenging than games, it is, but it seems like there will be a handful of players coming off this list.

While it would have been nice to have zero additions in the bye week when the Dawgs played no one, that wasn’t the case.

Injuries happen to teams, but it’s time for the football gods to pick another group because this Georgia team is onto something special.

However, they could look at it as overcoming adversity, which head coach Kirby Smart preaches. So far, it has worked in the Dawgs’ favor, and it’s gotten young players more time on the field, which will help in the future.

Still, it sucks to see this many Georgia players injured when they are having such a special year.

At the same time, though, it’s pretty Georgia-esque that the Dawgs would be undefeated with their backup quarterback, missing eight wideouts, a starting offensive lineman and a couple of defensive backs.

Georgia is getting healthier, though, slowly but surely. Check out the full injury report below to see who could play and who is still out.

Georgia football Injury Report

WR George Pickens (Out)

OL Tate Ratledge (Out)

CB Jalen Kimber (Out)

CB Tykee Smith (Out)

LB Rian Davis (Out)

RB Kendall Milton (Out)

CB Ameer Speed (Doubtful)

WR Dominick Blaylock (Probable)

WR Arian Smith (Probable)

QB JT Daniels (Extremely Likely)

RB Kenny McIntosh (Probable)

The list isn’t nearly as long as it was two weeks ago, but still too long to feel okay about it. Of course, Arik Gilbert is still not with the team, but Smart said he is working hard on himself.

Georgia does return multiple guys off this list, and some left on this list are still there for precautionary reasons.

Georgia football players OUT for Week 9 game against Florida

This list added one member in Kendall Milton, but he isn’t permanently on this list like the other five players out for the remainder of the season.

Milton is the player who got hurt during the bye week as he tweaked his MCL in one of his knees. He will likely miss a few weeks but should be able to return to play some. Milton was thriving this season, so it stinks to see him get hurt again, but it’ll only make him stronger mentally down the road.

George Pickens‘ rehab is going well, or so it seems from Smart’s comments on it. He is working hard to get back, but an ACL injury takes a long time to heal, so at this point, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him redshirt and come back next year.

The rest of this group, Tykee Smith, Tate Ratledge, Jalen Kimber and Rian Davis, are all working through their injuries, but we won’t see them return until next year at some point.

Georgia football players DOUBTFUL/PROBABLE for Week 9 game against Florida

While Ameer Speed is likely doubtful to play on Saturday, it’ll all depend on how the rest of this week goes for him. The Dawgs need some depth in the secondary to be helpful, but if he doesn’t get to practice much, I wouldn’t count on him playing.

Arian Smith is another who could likely play as he has been working through a contusion injury.

Kenny McIntosh will likely be back from a hamstring injury, and he has gotten to rest the last couple of weeks. He could get some extra carries with Milton hurt.

JT Daniels is still on this list for precautionary reasons. He will likely play and even start if he can go on Saturday. However, it’ll probably be a mixture of him and Stetson Bennett.

He benefited greatly from the bye week as he got to work on increasing his throwing reps to get back to playing health.

Guys who came off this list include Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, Christopher Smith, and Jamaree Salyer, who should be ready to go for the Gators. Salyer ended up playing against Kentucky without any issues, so he should be fine.

Rosemy-Jacksaint will be a great addition because the Gators will be ready for those younger guys, plus he will get revenge after such a tough break against the Gators last year that forced him to miss the rest of the year.

Smith will provide depth for the secondary, and that’ll help as well.

Georgia will return some key guys, but the injury list is still too long for comfort. The Dawgs must find a way to stay healthy through this week and the rest of the season. Hopefully, they will, and the list will continue to shrink week by week.