Georgia Tech linebacker Bruce Jordan-Swilling’s availability for the team’s season opener against Alcorn State on Saturday is in question because of a scooter accident, coach Paul Johnson said at his Tuesday news conference.
“Bruce Swilling, I don’t think he’ll play,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s description of Jordan-Swilling’s scooter was not much of an endorsement of it as a mode of transportation.
“The ones that you ride with no helmet that you fly down the road,” Johnson said. “It’s just kind of waiting for it to happen.”
Quarterback TaQuon Marshall downplayed the matter, calling it “just a freak accident.” The nature of the injury is evidently such that it has made Jordan-Swilling a target of his teammates’ grief.
“I mean, it’s been bad,” Marshall said. “The other day in the training room, I could not stop laughing. It was like five of us just laughing. I couldn’t stop, it was so funny. I’m like, ‘Dude, how did this happen?’ But it happens. I hope he gets better really soon.”
Marshall said Jordan-Swilling has his own scooter. Marshall is partial to riding the Bird electric rental scooters that have proliferated in Midtown and downtown Atlanta in recent months. Asked if he thought there was a safety concern, Marshall replied, “Not at all.”
Johnson also said that cornerback Lamont Simmons will not play against Alcorn State. Johnson said that Simmons has been “shut down” to give him time to recuperate from a hamstring injury.
Johnson said that Simmons tried to practice last Thursday “and he just didn’t feel right. So, in my mind, sometimes that can nag all year, (so) let’s shut him down and let him get better and then when he gets back, we’ll evaluate him and see where it is.”
Freshman safety Juanyeh Thomas also has an ankle sprain that may limit him Saturday. Johnson said that he is “probably not going to (serve as returner) this week.” Thomas had won the No. 1 kickoff and punt returner jobs in the preseason.
The backup is Jaytlin Askew or Nathan Cottrell on kickoff returns and Brad Stewart on punt returns.
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