ATHENS — Georgia coach Kirby Smart commented on the availability of several top players as the Bulldogs prepare for a rivalry game against the Florida Gators.
The Bulldogs have been without starting right guard Tate Ratledge for the last four games after he sustained knee and ankle injuries against Kentucky. Ratledge had TightRope surgery on his ankle but was able to dress out for Georgia’s win over Texas.
“We’re hopeful. I mean, we think he’s gonna be able to give us something,” Smart said. “He worked some last week, took some reps, did rehab over the weekend. Hopefully he’s raring to go. I mean, I know he wants to play in this game, it’s really important to him.”
With Ratledge out, Micah Morris has started the past four games for Georgia.
On the defensive line, Smart updated the progress of junior defensive lineman Mykel Williams. He suffered an ankle injury in Georgia’s season-opening win over Clemson. He then played just 42 snaps over Georgia’s next five games before playing a season-high 38 against Texas.
“I think people look at the output against Texas and think he didn’t play a lot of snaps. And he didn’t play probably the 100% role that he was playing against Clemson,” Smart said. “We think he’s gonna be much better this week. We did a lot of rehab with him last week, but I don’t know where he is.”
Williams had two sacks against Texas and had a third erased due to a facemask penalty.
In the game against Texas, both Dan Jackson and Joenel Aguero were ejected for targeting. Because of those penalties, Aguero and Jackson are set to miss the first half of the Florida game due to the penalties.
Georgia can appeal those but Smart has been tight-lipped on that matter.
“Yeah, I’m not really focused on that today,” Smart said. “I mean, I’m not really worried about it. I mean, it is what it is right now. Our guys are trying to get ready for Florida, and we’re going to prepare to play Florida.”
If Jackson and Aguero both miss the first half, freshman KJ Bolden would step in for Jackson while JaCorey Thomas would take over for Aguero.
Georgia will provide an availability report for this weekend’s game starting on Wednesday.
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