MOBILE, Ala. – When representatives of all 32 NFL teams are watching your every move, you want to impress.
For former Georgia linebacker Smael Mondon, that includes showing he's finally healthy.
"I just wanted to show them I was healthy, show them I could move around like I could before when I was younger," Mondon said. "I think some people were scared because of the injuries. They thought maybe I wasn't the same anymore, but I'm still definitely that player."
Foot and ankle injuries have been Mondon’s primary concerns.
As a senior, Mondon missed four games for the Bulldogs due to a foot injury. A similar foot ailment also limited his start to fall camp in 2023.
“I can run around, fly around, hit, and cover,” Mondon said. “I mean, you really couldn't tell that something was wrong a lot of times.”
The issues were annoying.
“It was real frustrating, especially because it's not really nothing that like happens,” he said. “Mine (his injury) just happened like over time, so it was just real frustrating. It wasn't a sudden injury. It was just like creep up, so it was kind of like a chronic thing … I shouldn’t say chronic because it's not like it's always there, but like it was something that crept up on me. It was annoying for sure.”
Based on his performance in practice for Saturday’s Senior Bowl (2:30 p.m. NFL Network), Mondon looks as healthy as ever.
He's been impressing teams with his ability as a sideline-to-sideline tackler, showing he can be a three-down player at the next level.
“Since I've been back, I've been feeling just as good as ever,” Mondon said. “That's been the main thing you've been wanting to show the scouts and team that you are 100 percent.”
He’s showing his coverage skills are better than what some may think.
“I feel like my coverage ability was kind of unknown when I came in here,” he said. “But I wanted to show them how I can play in the box and how I can be a run stopper as well and not just a third down and cover type of guy.”
Mondon said Georgia position coach Glenn Schumann has been passing along pointers while he’s been in Mobile.
“He helped me a lot. He's still helping me now. I'll send Coach Schumann clips and he'll send me voice reports and everything,” Mondon said. “He’s been helpful. He don't even know. A lot of stuff he told me (Tuesday), I applied that today and it helped me get better today. Coach Schumann, he's been like a big help to me. Like I couldn't repay him for everything he did for me.”
It’s because of Schumann that Mondon said he has no worries about Georgia’s inside linebacker room next fall, which is expected to be led by CJ Allen, Raylen Wilson, and Chris Cole.
“I know how they work. I know their work ethic. They’re going to attack it,” Mondon said. “We left the season last year with a bad taste in our mouth. So, I know they're going to …. the way they're going to attack this season … the boys are going to go crazy this year.”
