Kirby Smart offers injury updates on Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey, Amarius Mims
Georgia fought to the very end on Saturday but still fell short of a win in the SEC Championship, losing 27-24 to Alabama to ultimately put an end to their hopes of repeating as national champions.
The ball did not bounce the Bulldogs way in various ways this weekend, with one of the most glaring being in the injury department. Key offensive difference makers like Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey, and Amarius Mims sustained or battled through injuries in the title game, which head coach Kirby Smart was asked about following the matchup.
All those guys are just warriors,” Smart said. “Literally, I mean, just fighting.”
After suffering a high-ankle sprain back in September that required surgery, Mims returned to his right tackle spot in Week 11 versus Ole Miss for the Bulldogs. But unfortunately, he’d have to exit the SEC title game after re-aggravating the ankle injury, which also forced the Bulldogs to make some adjustments on the offensive line.
“Mims bumped it against — I don’t know exactly what happened, somebody fell on or he stepped on Tate [Ratledge], something happened. He just felt like it was weak and he couldn’t go,” Smart explained. “It threw us back to [Xavier] Truss having to go back out. Truss had moved in for Tate, try trying to play for him some. It threw Truss back out there. He played a little bit at tackle. Just part of what we had to do. We had to move those guys around.”
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck was sacked twice on Saturday, breaking a three-game streak of keeping his jersey clean in the passing game. But he did have two of his top targets for the title game despite them both battling through their own respective injuries as well.
“Brock and Ladd, those guys battle and compete,” Smart said. “They’ve been in rehab every morning. We wanted to play so bad against [Georgia] Tech and they couldn’t. They were going to be close today. They were out there limping around, not 100%. But the game matters to them. The team matters to them. Brock Bowers of all people, this guy is going to be a first round pick, and he’s just out there battling his tail off.”
Bowers underwent the same procedure as Mims following an ankle sprain of his own suffered versus Vanderbilt in Week 7, with McConkey battling through a back and ankle injury throughout the season. But they both put those injuries aside for the conference championship game, showing a high level of toughness on one of college football’s biggest stages.
All three aforementioned players are prospects for the 2024 NFL Draft, and it will be interesting to see if they compete in Georgia’s Orange Bowl matchup against Florida State given their respective injury situations.