On Tuesday, Kirby Smart met with the media for his opening spring practice conference.
Smart provided an update on Georgia’s injury report, noting five players will miss this spring with various injuries.
Those five players include:
- DB Dan Jackson (foot)
- OLB Marvin Jones Jr. (shoulder)
- OL Josh Miller (shoulder)
- RB Andrew Paul (ACL)
- LB Jalon Walker (shoulder)
Regarding Paul, Smart did say that he is hopeful the running back will be good to go by the start of fall camp.
“[Ron Courson] would compare it to where Chubb was that first spring we got here … He is not cleared, but he’s on track,” Smart said. “He’s going to do individual drills … We feel good about where he’ll be as far as fall camp”
Paul took a redshirt year during the 2022 season, his true freshman year, after suffering a torn ACL during Georgia’s second fall scrimmage.
Don’t hit the panic button just yet. As Dawgnation points out, recent players to miss spring practice include Darnell Washington, Smael Mondon, Nakobe Dean, and Brock Bowers. They all went on to have a fine season.
Regarding the outside linebacker position, which will now be without Marvin Jones Jr. and Jalon Walker this spring, Smart said:
“It’s probably the youngest position on the roster … We’ll see how it goes. Those young guys have looked good in workouts … We’ll need a lot of reps and work there”
Safety Dan Jackson is a key player in Georgia’s secondary. A big time contributor to the 2021 national title team, Jackson opened 2022 as the starting safety opposite of Chris Smith. Malaki Starks quickly overtook Jackson for the starting spot, but Jackson continued to play until suffering a midseason foot injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the year and will continue to do so through the spring.
