georgia football nolan smith shoulder injury

Georgia will be without one of its defensive leaders for the remainder of the game against Florida, as Nolan Smith has been ruled out with a right shoulder injury.

Smith is Georgia’s top pass rusher. CBS’ Jenny Dell reported that they touched Smith’s shoulder and that he yelled out in pain.

Smith is Georgia’s leading pass rusher on the season in addition to being the team’s vocal leader.

“Nolan is a natural leader,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of Smith this week. “He’s been that way since I met him when he was in eighth grade and he came up here to camp. He’s been a natural leader, comes from a great family, but his leadership is more important than his ability and his ability is pretty strong. He creates a toughness about the he holds people to a standard of the way you strike blocks, the way you close on counters, the way you rush with effort, special teams, I mean, he plays on all special teams. He’s just a core guy.”

Georgia did get defensive tackle Jalen Carter back this week, with the defensive tackle being very active early in the game.

Without Smith, look for Georgia to turn more towards Robert Beal and Chaz Chambliss at the outside linebacker position. Georgia has also been using freshman Jalon Walker often as an edge rusher in obvious passing situations.

The Bulldogs defense has come out strong, giving up just one first down on Florida’s opening five possessions.

Georgia leads 21-0 with 10:18 to go in the second quarter.

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