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Brock Bowers among trio of Georgia starters out for Orange Bowl

Palmber-Thombsby: Palmer Thombs12/30/23palmerthombs
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Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Georgia has taken the field for warmups to the Orange Bowl, and it appears the Bulldogs will be without star tight end Brock Bowers. Inside linebacker Smael Mondon and offensive tackle Amarius Mims are absent from warmups as well.

Mondon was present with the team when it arrived in South Florida on Tuesday whereas the other two were late arrivals, first appearing to the media at Friday’s open session of practice. He has been banged up throughout the season, playing in all 13 games still, while both Bowers and Mims, each of whom had tightrope ankle surgery at some point, are dealing with lingering issues that caused them to miss time.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was asked about the availability of both Bowers and Mims during Friday’s pre-bowl game press conference. He did not share much on either however, stating that it was a wait and see type situation.

“We’ll see,” Smart said about Bowers.

“Amarius is here and going to be with us today,” he added on Mims.

A pair of projected early draft picks, the fact that Bowers and Mims are sidelined likely means that they’re both headed pro and made the choice to opt out based on their health. In the case of Mondon, his intentions to return for the 2024 season have already been made known.

Bowers was a unanimous selection for All-American status this season and won his second-straight Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end. For the third straight season, the Napa, Calif. native led Georgia in receiving as he hauled in 56 passes for 714 yards and six scores. He did that in just 10 games, missing two after having tightrope ankle surgery in October and another to close out the regular season with soreness in that ankle.

“We don’t know. his status is still unsure,” Georgia tight ends coach Todd Hartley said about Bowers earlier this week. “We know he’s still battling that ankle injury that has been nagging him it seems like forever now. He’s been great in his rehab. I hope he makes it, don’t know if he will. Still something that we’re up in the air on. He’s been great in the support of his teammates throughout the prep, every since the Alabama game. We’ll see what happens.”

Meanwhile Mims, who also projects highly in the NFL Draft, started six of the seven games he played this season. He also started a pair last year in the College Football Playoffs. Like Bowers, Mims suffered an ankle injury that required surgery. He missed more time however and ended up leaving the SEC Championship Game early with an injury as well.

As for Mondon, the Coaches All-SEC selection posted 68 stops on the year including a career-high tying 11 against Auburn. He had at least four tackles in all but two games, one of which he was limited in during the season-opener coming off of an offseason foot injury.

Other Bulldogs out include cornerback Julian Humphrey who has missed the last three games with an upper body injury, wide receiver Rara Thomas who missed the final two games of the season and outside linebacker Damon Wilson, who recently underwent a minor knee surgery. Starting cornerback Kamari Lassiter warmed up without his usual tape, gloves and sleeve calling into question how much he’ll play, if at all. Defensive lineman Christen Miller was not seen during warmups either.

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