As expected, Georgia right guard Ben Cleveland will miss an undetermined amount of time after breaking his fibula during Saturday’s 43-29 win at Missouri.
Fortunately, no surgery will be required, and Cleveland will remain on crutches until he is cleared to resume practice.
"We're not sure how long that'll be," head coach Kirby Smart said during Monday's press conference to preview Saturday's game against Tennessee (3:30, CBS). "He'll be on crutches for a week, and then he'll be back weight-bearing after that."
Smart said the team will evaluate throughout the week who will replace Cleveland, although losing the Toccoa native for any amount of time should be considered a blow.
"We're going to evaluate that through two, three days of work. The good thing is, we get a lot of good-on-good work in this week. We'll explore all those options," Smart said. "I thought that Ben Cleveland was playing really well. He was playing fast. He was finally comfortable. He was moving around. He had gotten player of the week there one week for Coach (Sam) Pittman. He was doing a good job, and was picking things up. He was very confident. You can kind of see the maturation process of the last two years, of what all he's been through to get to the point he was."
Along with Justin Shaffer, who replaced Cleveland after the injury, Kendall Baker and possibly Cade Mays—depending on the status of Andrew Thomas—could also fill in.
"It will come out in competition. (Justin) Shaffer was the guy who went in because he had practiced, and he was ready to go at that position. Kendall (Baker) will get an opportunity there. We'll also look at the possibility of Cade (Mays) working there with Andrew (Thomas) being back at left tackle, if that comes to be," Smart said. "So we'll look to get our best five in, and to be honest, you've got to have seven or eight ready, just like we've had to play multiple guys in every game—Andrew, Ben. So we'll have to have seven, eight guys ready."
As for Thomas, Smart indicated the sophomore left tackle appears to be OK.
"(Thomas) was no worse off with the ankle," Smart said. "We felt like he probably could have gone back in if he had to, in an emergency."
Smart also said wide receiver Tyler Simmons is expected to practice today, and may not miss three weeks, as originally feared.
"We're not sure how long Tyler will be out with his shoulder," Smart said. "It may be a week, maybe two weeks. It may be less. We don't know. We're going to see what he can do today. We'll find a lot more out about that.
Also, linebacker Monte Rice (MC) is expected to practice this week while Jackson Harris (foot) is also expected back.
"Monty Rice is expected back. You know, he had the MCL in spring. He practiced last week," Smart said. "He just didn't feel like he could go in the game. We're hoping to get him back, hoping he's recovered some."
