Georgia injury report: Jalen Carter, Smael Mondon on the mend
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia didn’t have the services of a pair of defensive starters when it took down Auburn 42-10 on Saturdays. Those two starters, junior defensive tackle Jalen Carter and sophomore inside linebacker Smael Mondon, might not out for much longer according to Kirby Smart.
The seventh-year head coach was asked about both players, as well as junior running back Kendall Milton, when he met with reporters on Monday. Smart says that Jalen Carter is showing steady improvement and Smael Mondon was almost ready to play against the Tigers.
“Yeah, don’t know. I’ll have to wait and see. I haven’t seen them yet,” Smart said when asked about injuries. “Jalen, obviously, we’re going to find out. Every day he’s getting better. He’s rehabbing. He’s doing more. I’ll see more today.
“Smael was close to being able to go in the game. He didn’t practice a lot last week. Hopeful to get him back this week and the same with Kendall.”
Jalen Carter has been hampered by injuries since the 2022 season opener vs. Oregon. He sustained a sprained ankle in that game, an ailment that slowed him for the next few weeks. Jalen Carter showed a great deal of improvement in the week leading up to the Missouri game. Then he suffered a different injury.
Carter left the first quarter of the contest at Mizzou after being chop blocked. Smart labeled the injury as a sprained MCL and said that he would be out for one to two weeks.
Smael Mondon, too, was hurt in that Missouri game. He had to leave that game for a portion of time with a sprained ankle but he was still able to return and finish. Smart told reporters on Tuesday of last week that Smael Mondon had struggled through the first two days of practice and his status was uncertain for the Auburn game.
Mondon dressed out for The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry and went through drills with defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann before the team came out for pregame warmup. Once the Bulldogs strapped on the pads and began getting loose, Mondon watched drills and did no participate at all.
With Mondon and fourth-year junior inside linebacker Trezmen Marshall out, Georgia had to lean on fourth-year junior Rian Davis to play a ton of snaps at inside linebacker, 48 snaps to be exact. Xavian Sorey, a redshirt freshman, also played 17 snaps.
Milton suffered a groin injury during the Auburn game after carrying the football two times for 13 yards. He did not return after that injury as the Bulldogs went on to total 292 rushing yards on 39 carries in the contest.
Next up for Georgia is a homecoming matchup with Vanderbilt. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on The SEC Network.
