ATHENS — While Georgia knows it will be without one of its best players following tightrope surgery, it could be getting an important piece back from the same injury.
Brock Bowers won’t play Saturday after having surgery to help heal a high ankle sprain he suffered in the win over Vanderbilt. The typical recovery time is four to six weeks. Kirby Smart added that Bowers has been with the team at some walkthroughs.
This Saturday will mark six weeks since Amarius Mims went down with a high ankle sprain against South Carolina. He has missed the last four games, with Xavier Truss filling in at right tackle in his place.
Smart provided updates on both Mims and Truss on Monday. The latter left the Vanderbilt game with an ankle sprain.
”We’ll find out a lot more today. A lot of rehab, a lot of maintenance,” Smart said. “They were both able to do some different things last week. Until I see them out there today, I probably won’t be a good judge to say.”
If neither is able to play, freshman Monroe Freeling would likely get the start at right tackle. He filled in during the team’s win over Vanderbilt.
.”I thought he did a good job. There’s a lot of things he could work on,” Smart said last week. “There’s butterflies with that. Fortunately, he had gotten to play in some games but not in that situation. I was thrilled he got to go out there and get some confidence. He’s a really good athlete and he’s a worker. So he’ll work really hard to get better.”
Elsewhere on the injury front, Georgia will be monitoring the health of two of its running backs in Kendall Milton and Roderick Robinson. Milton left the Vanderbilt game when he re-aggravated his MCL sprain. Milton was able to practice on a limited basis during the bye week.
“Kendall was good last week,” Smart said. “He pushed through and we’ll see where he’s at today.”
Robinson hasn’t played since the team’s win over South Carolina as he deals with an ankle sprain. With injuries being an issue, Georgia has leaned more on Daijun Edwards. He ran for a career-best 146 yards in the win over Vanderbilt.
“Rod was able to go a lot last week,” Smart said.
Smart also said that offensive guard Tate Ratledge had been dealing with an elbow injury but that he was practicing all week
Georgia was off the past weekend, allowing players such as Mims and Truss extra time to heal. The Bulldogs have a pivotal game against Florida this week. Georgia is unbeaten in SEC play but Florida has just one SEC loss on the season. Both teams very much still control their paths to Atlanta and the SEC championship.
Saturday’s rivalry game is set for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on CBS.
Kirby Smart updates Georgia football injury report
Georgia football injury report
Brock Bowers, ankle --out
Branson Robinson, knee -- out
Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, foot -- out
EJ Lightsey, shoulder -- out
Cole Speer, undisclosed -- out
Jamaal Jarrett, foot/ankle -- questionable
Roderick Robinson, ankle -- questionable
Amarius Mims, ankle -- questionable
Xavier Truss, ankle --questionable
Kendall Milton, knee -- questionable
Ladd McConkey, back -- questionable