ATHENS — Georgia outside linebacker Darris Smith is not with the team as Kirby Smart told reporters on Tuesday night. The Georgia coach did not offer any further explanation as to why he’s not with the team at the moment.

Smith played in Georgia’s first five games of the season, picking five tackles. He had appeared on Georgia’s pass rush package, while also playing on a variety of special teams for the Bulldogs. Smith played in 11 games as a freshman after signing as a member of the 2022 signing class. He was not spotted with the team during Georgia’s wins over Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

Georgia landed Smith as a 4-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting cycle out of Baxley, Ga. Smith had 4 tackles as a freshman. At 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, Smith was thought to be a player with long-term upside. His combination of speed and length made him an important chess piece for the Bulldogs to potentially use.

“Darris Smith is a kid we’re excited about, we’ve loved. He’s got a great work ethic,” Smart said about Smith after his signing in February of 2022. “He’s from a rural town down there, and he’s done a wonderful job every time he’s been up here of competing, working out ... He’s got a lot of growth potential. He’s long. He runs well. Kids that are that size that run well tend to do well in our system. He played at receiver at times. He’s running track right now, and he’s one of the fastest track kids in that area, so we’re certainly excited about him.”

Smith was the No. 163 overall player in the 2022 recruiting cycle per the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Smith’s absence certainly hurts the outside linebacker room, which had not been a strength of the team to this point. Georgia has just five scholarship outside linebackers in Chaz Chambliss, Marvin Jones Jr., CJ Madden, Damon Wilson and Sam M’Pemba.

Georgia can get creative though, as it can and has played Jalon Walker and Xavian Sorey at the outside linebacker position. The pair have also played in Georgia’s pass rush package, with Walker picking up 0.5 sack in Saturday’s win over Kentucky.

“The JACK linebacker position has been, several of those guys rotating there,” Smart said prior to Georgia’s game against South Carolina. “Chaz has played a good bit. Darris has played, Marvin has played, the other guys have gotten to play with the game situation. We have several packages where two guys are in, two JACKs are in or three JACKs are in. We have regular where there’s a SAM and JACK in. It all depends on what the offense is doing.”

The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday when they visit Florida. The game is set for a 3:30 p..m. ET start on CBS.