ATHENS — While Georgia got perhaps the key injured players back at Tuesday’s practice, that doesn’t mean the team is fully back to health.
Two defensive linemen remained out: Sophomore David Marshall and junior DaQuan Hawkins-Muckle, who each sustained injuries late last week and sat out the Missouri game. Head coach Kirby Smart said after the game that Marshall and Hawkins-Muckle’s injuries were undisclosed.
Marshall has played a lot of snaps off the bench this season, after starting four games last year. Marshall has seven tackles in six games.
Hawkins-Muckle started five games last year but hasn’t played as much this year, notching two tackles in three games.
The Bulldogs did get Trenton Thompson back at Tuesday’s practice after missing two games with a knee injury. They also got back receiver Terry Godwin, the team’s leader in receiving yards and touchdowns, but not another receiver.
Jayson Stanley, a junior, missed Saturday’s game with some sort of leg injury. Stanley doesn’t have a catch this season but plays a key special teams role, the gunner on Georgia’s punt and kickoff teams.
Pat Allen, a reserve offensive lineman, was also not practicing on Tuesday after suffering a lower leg injury in Saturday’s game. Allen started Georgia’s opener at left guard but has been on second-team since then.
This was Georgia’s first practice of the bye week. During the media viewing period, the team held one-on-one drills in front of the entire team (and media) in which receivers went against defensive backs and offensive linemen went against a defensive player. Smart was reading off the player match-ups for each drill, and the rest of the team formed a semi-circle around the end zone to watch and cheer.
Offensive tackle Ben Cleveland got the better of outside linebacker Robert Beal in their match-up, for instance. The defensive backs tended to get the better of the receivers, with most of the passes falling incomplete.
No. 4 Georgia (7-0) plays Florida (3-2) a week from Saturday in Jacksonville’s EverBank Field.
