Freshman quarterback D’Wan Mathis is making progress following surgery in May to remove a cyst from his brain.

"He's been cleared to do more,” head coach Kirby Smart said after practice Tuesday. “He's been cleared to practice, just not take hits, so that prevents him from being able to play.”

Still, the fact Mathis is at least able to take part in drills and practice itself should be taken as good news.

Smart said the Michigan native has actually played key roles in helping the Bulldogs (10-1) prepare for their last two games against Auburn and Texas A&M.

“He’s been able to do more in practice. He's been scout team quarterback the last couple of weeks now, and has done a tremendous job. He helped with the Bo Nix scout team stuff. He helped even last week with it. He's able to simulate some of these guys we've played, so that's been a big bonus for us.”

Smart said Mathis' exact future isn’t exactly clear.

“When he's going to be completely cleared, I'm not sure,” Smart said. “But it was a step up in clearance when he could go 11-on-11 and throw the ball and give us a look."

Smart explained that team trainers and doctors will continue taking it extremely slow with the young quarterback.

“It’s a deal where they don’t want to scan him a lot because of the radiation. They have benchmarks and points to hit and do, in time, which they’ve done,” Smart said. “They want to see the recovery and healing.”

Some of the nation’s best medical experts are also lending a hand.

“They’re three or four medical experts that Ron and his staff have called on all from different departments. One of them is an NFL representative, one of them is a Harvard doctor,” Smart said. “They've got three or four guys that are nationally renowned for this craniotomy surgery and pool together to decide what is best.”