Georgia football was missing two key members of their offensive line against Austin Peay. Starting right tackle Earnest Greene and right guard Juan Gaston were both injured in Georgia’s week one victory, and those injuries prevented them from playing this past weekend.
Most fans assumed their absence wouldn’t matter all that much against a team like Austin Peay, but it was very clear how much Georgia’s line struggled in pass protection. So if Georgia struggled to block against an FCS opponent they likely won’t stand much of a chance against a team like Tennessee.
Thankfully Kirby Smart’s most recent injury update on both players is positive and gives them a chance to play against the Volunteers this Saturday.
"Yeah, they've both done some individual work, done some work against some scouts and things, and they're both moving around. I'm not sure where they'll stand,” Smart shared via 247Sports.com. “I get to go watch the tape of what they did today here in a few minutes, but they moved around pretty good in Indy."
Latest injury update on Earnest Green, Juan Gaston
Everyone is talking about how Tennessee’s key injuries to their secondary will benefit Georgia, but no one is talking about how detrimental missing Greene and Gaston will be. The success of an offense depends so much on offensive line play, so if Georgia can’t give Gunner Stockton good protection then there won’t be much hope on Saturday.
Thankfully it sounds like both Greene and Gaston could play this week, but Smart would be wise to push them to play even if they aren’t 100 percent. Georgia has a bye week after playing Tennessee this week, so that will give both players a chance to get more healthy after this game. And after witnessing Georgia’s offensive line struggle last week, it may be worth the risk playing these two even if they aren’t fully healthy.
Georgia’s first official injury report will come out later this week, and both players likely will find themselves listed as questionable to play. Hopefully “questionable” eventually turns into “active” so Georgia’s offensive line can get back to what they looked like at the start of the season.