Smael Mondon provides update on his injury recovery

Smael Mondon watched from the side Tuesday as Georgia kicked off spring practice. Although he wanted to be out of the field with his teammates, the fourth-year linebacker is still recovering after having surgery on his foot this offseason.

Mondon was still made available for interviews following practice, though he arrived on a rolling knee scooter. He offered an update on his progress as he heals from the injury, indicating that he is coming along well.

“I’m feeling good,” Mondon said. “Getting healthier every week. It’s tough because you don’t really notice it until you see everybody practicing and you’re to the side. I’m just ready to get back out there.”

Mondon is expected to be a leader for the Bulldogs defense this upcoming season once he gets healthy. He appeared in 13 games this past year to rank second on the team with 68 tackles (five for loss) along with three sacks and one pass defended.

Mondon missed the Peach Bowl to end the season as he had been battling injuries all season, and he actually recorded eight less tackles than he did as a sophomore. He likely could have played if Georgia had made the College Football Playoff but didn’t want to risk hurting himself more than he already was.

It’s impressive that Mondon was able to put up the numbers he did last year in spite of his injury. However, when asked how much of an issue it was for him, he declined to make a big deal of it.

“I don’t really want to make excuses or nothing like that, but it was just nagging injuries throughout the season,” he said. “I ended up breaking it toward the end of the year. But everybody out there hurt, so I’m not gonna make no excuses about it.”

Mondon also had to sit of of Georgia’s G-Day game last spring and missed some time during fall camp. It wasn’t easy and it won’t be this time either, but the hope is he can return back to full form by the time the season rolls around.

After winning back-to-back national championship in 2021 and 2022, Georgia lost in the SEC Championship this past season against Alabama. However, thanks to a strong defense that includes Mondon, there is hope they can contend for another title this year.

That’s the goal on Mondon’s mind as he prepares to enter his senior season.

“I just wanted to finish things the right way, you know?” he said. “I was kind of banged up throughout the year. At the end of the season we didn’t really finish off how we wanted to, so kind of like a mix of those two.”