ATHENS — Georgia football star Mykel Williams likely won’t play Saturday night at Kentucky.
That was the indication Wednesday night as the Bulldogs submitted their first availability report to the SEC in compliance with the league’s new policy. Starting this season, all SEC teams must inform the conference office what players are available to compete in that week’s game. Those that are not “out” or “in” must declare a status, which is then monitored daily up until 90 minutes before kickoff.
“SEC Availability Reports” (note: not injury reports) are available to the public on a dedicated SEC website.
In the case of Williams, a junior defensive end who projects as a potential top pick in the next NFL draft, he is listed as “doubtful.” Georgia coach Kirby Smart confirmed that Williams missed the Tennessee Tech game Saturday with an ankle injury suffered in the season opener against Clemson.
Smart said Williams’ ability to participate in practice this week would determine whether he’ll be able to play in Saturday night’s SEC road opener against the Wildcats.
“He’s got to be able to compete, run, put pressure on it,” Smart told reporters. “And he’s doing a great job of rehab. He did a great job this weekend of getting extra time in and see where he’s at.”
Thursday night was the last opportunity to monitor Williams’ progress. Besides the “Bulldogs Live” radio show Thursday night, Smart does not have any other media availability before Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. kickoff (ABC). Since he generally doesn’t address injuries in that vetted-question format, it’s unlikely fans will be provided any more updates on Williams’ availability before pregame warmups Saturday.
If Williams can’t go, the Bulldogs have very capable fill-ins. That starts with Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, who started at defensive end against Tennessee Tech and finished with a team-best three tackles for loss and four stops overall while playing limited snaps. The 6-foot-5, 280-pound Ingram-Dawkins was the No. 1 prospect in South Carolina when he signed with UGA. But his playing time has been limited to 24 games over four seasons because of injuries and competition. Saturday was his first career start.
Tight end Oscar Delp (ankle), running back Nate Frazier (shoulder) and defensive lineman Nasir Johnson (shoulder) were not included listed on the report. Running back Roderick Robinson (toe) was the only Georgia player listed as out.
The only other Bulldogs whose status remained undetermined as of Wednesday also are defensive linemen. Defensive tackles Warren Brinson (lower leg), Jordan Hall (lower leg) and Xzavier McLeod (unspecified) each were listed as “questionable.”
McLeod, a heralded offseason transfer from South Carolina, reportedly is dealing with some sort of abdominal injury, though Smart has not confirmed that. Smart did share that both McLeod and Hall, who at the least would be in the defensive line rotation this season, returned to the practice field this week and are close to returning to action.
“Jordan and Xzavier have got pads on and are running and moving around, doing some functional movement stuff,” Smart said Tuesday night. “They got to do (individual drills) and doing some stuff, so we’ll see how it goes. But I’m proud of both of them because they’re pushing hard.”
As per SEC rules, each team is limited to 74 participants for conference contests and must determine which players on the roster before traveling Friday. Settling on the travel roster always is difficult for coaches, but usually comes down to special teams.
“You’re not usually talking about starters,” Smart said. “You’re talking about guys that are going to be emergency players and have to go in if you lose somebody. We’ve been up there before and had a couple injuries and had to fill in with guys at Kentucky. Probably the 65th to the 74th guy are special-teams picks.”
Kentucky’s injury report Wednesday was more extensive. It included 13 names overall, seven listed as out. Of the others, the most concerning for the Wildcats is starting left guard Jager Burton. The 6-4, 316-pound junior suffered an unspecified injury during a field-goal attempt against South Carolina. Coach Mark Stoops said, “it’ll be tough for him to get back” (for Georgia).
The SEC implemented availability reports for conference games this year to curtail the growing problem of individuals seeking information on injuries and suspensions from team sources for gambling purposes. The reports are posted by 8 p.m. ET Wednesdays and updated Thursday and Friday nights and, lastly, 90 minutes before kickoff.
“The policy is intended to reduce pressure from outside entities seeking participation information and represents a commitment of our 16 institutions to provide enhanced transparency to support efforts to protect our student-athletes and the integrity of competition,” Sankey said in a recent statement.
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