ATLANTA – When Georgia opens fall camp here in approximately three weeks, the Bulldogs will do so as healthy as they can be.
That includes at the tight end position, where Brock Bowers (labrum) and Darnell Washington (foot) are both back 100 percent and ready for the start of camp.
“Anybody who had a labrum issue for spring will be back. We had several guys who had labrums who were out for spring, but there’s nobody that won’t be cleared for fall camp,” head coach Kirby Smart said Wednesday at SEC Media Days. “I think maybe there's one kid, (Mekhi) Mews, who’s a really good slot receiver, will be running a little behind; he got his during the spring. But we expect to be at full health.”
Smart added there were some players with hamstring and muscle pulls.
“I don’t know if they’ll be ready for fall camp. But outside of that we should be back at full strength,” Smart said. “But as you guys know it’s about surviving fall camp. It’s not about entering camp. We enter camp at 99 percent. It’s coming out of camp at 95 percent that’s going to be important.”
The list of healthy players also includes linebackers Smael Mondon (Labrum), Rian Davis (knee), and Trezman Marshall (knee).
Others back include wide receiver Arian Smith (lower leg), wide receiver C.J. Smith (labrum), offensive lineman Tate Ratledge (Lisfranc), defensive lineman Bear Alexander (labrum), and outside linebacker C.J. Madden (labrum).
Smart said safety Tykee Smith is getting closer, although he’s yet to be cleared for contact.
"I've seen him running, working out, testing, doing a lot of things. You're never going to be 100 percent. You go back to George [Pickens], you go back to every ACL we've had. He (Smith) is not 100 percent, but you still see the athleticism,” Smart said. “When you watch him do DB drills, he's very fluid, he has great ball skills. With the new NCAA rules, we're able to have balls out there and see kids get a little bit more individual work. It's been great. A slight change and it's been great to go out there and see him compete. But he's not been cleared to play football just yet. Tackle, do all those things. I don't know if he'll be completely cleared when we get back to fall camp, but he should be cleared shortly thereafter it. Hopefully we can find a role for him to help us.”
Ratledge is taking reps, although Smart acknowledged they will continue to take their time with the redshirt sophomore.
“Yeah, he’s been working, he’s been repping. We don’t have pads on. But he’s taking reps. You know it’s going to be an adjustment for him,” Smart said. “I think people expect him to walk back in there, but that’s not an injury that’s just easy to return from. When you do the study and the history of the injury it’s one of the toughest to recover from, especially for an offensive lineman who’s using his foot on every play.”
Meanwhile, linebacker CJ Washington has had his neck brace removed, but there still is no timetable on when or if he will return.
“Yeah, CJ’s continuing to get medical eval-ed. It’s been a tough, slow process. It’s not something that you rush. I don’t know the outcome of that yet. We’ve had several specialists look at it,” Smart said. “He’s recovering. He has shown improvement. The X-rays have shown improvement. He has complete stability, he’s able to go to class, he’s out of the neck brace, but I don’t know when he’s going to be able to return. That’s not something we want to rush.”
Smart also confirmed that defensive lineman Marlin Dean is no longer with the team, although he did not offer any details.
