No. 1 Georgia (8-0, 5-0 in SEC) returns home to take on No. 14 Missouri (7-1, 3-1 in SEC) on Saturday in Sanford Stadium. Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart joined the media on Monday to kick off game week with injury updates.
Georgia left Jacksonville without sustaining any serious injuries. True freshman inside linebacker C.J. Allen is day-to-day with a tweaked hamstring.
Smart said senior safety Dan Jackson is dealing with a bursa sac in his knee that became infected, which has kept him out of the last two games. The timetable for his return is unknown.
Junior right tackle Amarius Mims, who is recovering from TightRope surgery, was listed as questionable against Florida and didn’t make an appearance. Mims hasn’t played since going down in Week 3.
“He’s working his butt off. He did extra work Friday, Saturday, (Sunday),” Smart said. “He’s going out today to continue to work, but at the end of the day he’s got to be confident to go out there and play. He’s much closer to that today than he was last week.”
Smart also shared that sophomore outside linebacker Darris Smith is still away from the team. Smith’s absence was reported last week and it doesn’t seem like he will return anytime soon.
“Darris is focusing on academics and working out and conditioning and doing some things, but he’s not necessarily with us,” Smart said.
Georgia did see the return of sophomore defensive end Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins versus the Gators. He had missed seven straight games due to a foot injury, and he made an immediate impact by recording a tackle, a sack, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. Conditioning is now the key for Ingram-Dawkins.
“It’s getting him back in the right shape, stamina, all the way back. He hasn’t been able to practice much and didn’t do much last week until Thursday,” Smart said. “He’s at a position where he rolls over there with Mykel (Williams) and Tramel (Walthour), and hopefully he can take a load off those guys and keep them fresher and give us a little more size.”
On a positive note, junior wideout Ladd McConkey seems almost 100% after a nagging back injury kept him out of the first four games and limited his role in others. “Looking great,” Smart said when asked about McConkey’s recovery.
McConkey earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his career-high six catches for 135 yards and a touchdown against the Gators. Kickoff against the Tigers is set for 3:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on CBS.