Kirby Smart provides gameday injury update on Georgia wide receivers

No. 1 ranked Georgia is ready to face the unranked Florida in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party rivalry Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS. As the injury bug continues to plague the Georgia wide receiver room, head coach Kirby Smart provided an update on the availability of some key offensive weapons.

During a Saturday morning visit with ESPN’s Marty Smith and Ryan McGee, Smart revealed the updated game status of several wide receivers.

“Well we’re hoping to get a couple guys back, but we also have a couple guys out,” said Smart. “Justin Robinson pulled his hamstring and I hate that he’s not with us, not able to go. And Dom(inick Blaylock) is fighting a hamstring bug. But hoping to get Jermaine Burton back, hoping to get Arian (Smith) back, Marcus Rosemy(-Jacksaint) has been coming back for a while, and he had a really significant injury in this game last year, so this is kind of the one-year anniversary of that. We’re hoping to have those three at full speed on top of the other guys.”

With Justin Robinson and Dominick Blaylock struggling with hamstring injuries, the newly available trio of Jermaine Burton, Arian Smith and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint could return in big roles. Georgia’s star wide receiver George Pickens remains out after an offseason ACL injury and incoming transfer Arik Gilbert is away from the team.

With several wide receivers in and out of the lineup, freshman tight end Brock Bowers has emerged as Georgia’s top receiving threat. Freshman wide receiver Ladd McConkey, who was not projected as a 2021 contributor, leads the wide receiver room with 17 catches for 295 yards and two touchdowns. Another freshman, Adonai Mitchell, has also shown off promise over recent weeks.

Update on Georgia’s quarterback situation

Stetson Bennett will be the starting quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday against Florida, per a report from On3’s Matt Zenitz. The news comes as JT Daniels, who began the season as the starter, was made available to return from a lat injury.

Aided by Bennett, Georgia has beaten ranked opponents in each of its last three games — then-No. 8 Arkansas (37-0 in Week 4), then-No. 18 Auburn (34-10 in Week 5) and then-No. 11 Kentucky (30-13 in Week 6).

In the wins over Auburn and Kentucky, Bennett combined to go 28-of-41 with 481 passing yards, 63 rushing yards, five passing touchdowns and no interceptions. He also had his best game of the season against UAB, going 10-of-12 for 288 yards and five touchdowns.