Georgia was fortunate to not have any catastrophic injuries this offseason, but that doesn’t mean the team is completely healthy either.
The Red & Black highlights some of the Bulldogs whose injury situations are worth monitoring as the season continues to get underway.
The most deflating news out of last year’s fall camp was the injury to running back Branson Robinson, who ruptured his patella tendon and missed the entire 2023 season.
The news surrounding his recovery was encouraging at every turn, though, and Robinson is now making a full return after his career was in jeopardy just a few years ago.
“He’s got an incredible mentality,” guard Dylan Fairchild said of Robinson. “He was dealt some hard hands just with the injuries that he had being back to back.
There’s a lot of guys on the team, me being one of them, [that] felt bad for him, but I don’t think he had an ounce of feeling sorry or self-pity in him. He was just ready to get back on the field and it shows. It shows in the way he shows up every day.”
The other Robinson in Georgia’s running back room, Roderick Robinson II, is also dealing with an injury, and his prognosis is more unclear.
He has been walking in a boot and missed Georgia’s season opener against Clemson with what the team is officially calling a turf toe injury. Kirby Smart said Robinson II has had surgery on his toe but a timetable for his return is unclear.
Georgia’s running back room wasn’t as dominant last season as it’s been in years past, although Robinson II was a bright spot as a true freshman.
With him out, Georgia will be down its leading returning rusher from last year. Though the room has been overhauled with the arrivals of Trevor Etienne and three freshmen, the Bulldogs would like to still have one of their most promising youngsters from last year in the mix.
“It will probably be week to week,” Smart said of Robinson II’s availability. “Not sure how long it will take in terms of the surgery.”
One injury that persisted long into fall camp was that of center Jared Wilson. Though he was able to return for the Clemson game, Wilson missed a chunk of fall camp with an achilles injury.
In his absence, Georgia shuffled the deck around at offensive line with senior guard Tate Ratledge kicking in to center.
Wilson has since returned, but his achilles and subsequently Georgia’s backup center position should be something to monitor.
Joenel Aguero also missed the Clemson game with an injury, and Mykel Williams suffered an ankle sprain after taking a helmet to the knee. Smart said Williams is week-to-week.
The Bulldogs’ defensive line is also a bit banged up at the moment. Senior leader Warren Brinson missed all of camp with an achilles injury, which was not a welcome sign for a younger defensive line group that is in need of veteran presence.
Brinson returned against Clemson but then left the game with an injury and did not return. Nazir Stackhouse also got hurt but later returned.
“With those guys, we’ve got to be smart about how we practice them, the reps they take, do they stunt growth [of our younger defensive linemen]?” Smart said of Stackhouse and Brinson.
“If they stunt growth, then maybe we don’t get better for the next year. I certainly didn’t sit on this podium last year this time thinking those two guys would be back. So, the fact they were was a luxury in terms of depth, but we still have to get better.”
Redshirt freshman Xzavier McLeod, who transferred in from South Carolina, has also been out with an undisclosed injury.
Jordan Hall also missed the season opener. The Bulldogs have been waiting on someone to step up from the defensive line, and it’s not good to see that list of options dwindle.
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