Kirby Smart detailed on Monday how Georgia handled their bye week differently this season. In the past they have continued to practice like normal with limited time off, but this year they only practiced on Tuesday and Thursday and had the rest of the week off.
The hope is that this would help get Georgia as healthy as possible going into the rest of the season, but according to Smart on Monday it still isn't clear if wide receiver Isiah Canion or defensive back KJ Bolden will be healthy enough to play against Florida this weekend.
"Really don't know on either one of them because we haven't done anything since Thursday,” Kirby Smart said via 247Sports.com. “Those guys, we had good practices all week last week, and then leading into this week, we'll find out more about where they are today and through the injury report information we have.”
Georgia’s new practice routine will hopefully pay off
Smart made it clear that he is willing to sacrifice some practice time to get his team healthy. In fact, this is something that Georgia has been doing all season because they have shortened each of their practices all season by 10 or 15 minutes. The goal in this is to help Georgia stay healthier without giving up too much preparation time, and so far it has worked out alright.
Georgia is 6-1 so they could be better off this season, but their record is still good enough to be the No. 3 team in the country. UGA has also had to deal with a handful of injuries throughout the season, but if you compare their injury report to other teams across the country they have had less injuries than others.
The hope though is that guys like Isiah Canion and KJ Bolden could use this extra time off this week to get healthy so they can make their return against Florida this weekend, but Smart hasn't confirmed if they will be back yet or not.
Georgia desperately needs KJ Bolden back
Georgia has only been without KJ Bolden for one game this season, and it just so happened to be their worst game of the year. UGA was without Bolden when they played Auburn two weeks ago and they were upset at home as the No. 1 team in the country.
Who knows if Bolden could've changed that outcome if he was in the game, but it might not be a coincidence that Georgia's defense had their worst game of the season when he wasn't able to play.
Georgia has been without Canion for longer, so they've already learned how to get by without him on offense. The same can't be said for Bolden though who is a projected first round pick at the upcoming NFL Draft this offseason. If Georgia wants their best shot at avoiding another upset they need Bolden back in the lineup to help slow down a Florida offense who is capable of scoring a lot of points.
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