Kiante Tripp embraces new role as tight end

Athens — Kiante Tripp added a sixth number to the collection of jerseys he has worn at Georgia. How long he remains in No. 83 is anybody’s guess.

Tripp, a redshirt sophomore from Atlanta, accepted his third position change in a season and a half when he agreed to move to tight end from offensive tackle last week. He signed with Georgia out of Westlake High as a defensive end.

“Is it six now? Really?” said Tripp, who has worn the numbers 47, 92, 94, 64, 75 since enrolling at UGA. “Hopefully I won’t be changing any more numbers after this.”

The latest move came after starting tight end Tripp Chandler and backup Bruce Figgins both ended up sidelined with separated shoulders in the Alabama game. Figgins has elected to have season-ending surgery, though he might play one more game before being medically redshirted, as new NCAA rules allow. Chandler will miss at least the Tennessee game and possibly more, according to coach Mark Richt.

Only undersized redshirt freshman Aron White (6-4, 229) and true freshman Bryce Ros (6-4, 250) remain at tight end. Richt said they plan to keep Ros redshirted.

Enter Tripp, a 6-foot-6, 290-pound former basketball star who was starting at left tackle before an ankle injury sidelined him two weeks ago. As soon as he came back last week he was moved again.

“Basically Coach [Richt] has seen I’m an athlete,” Tripp said. “We had couple of guys go down, so he called me over and laid it down to me. He was, like, ‘I need you.’ I was, like, ‘Coach, I’m a team player. If you need me there, I’ve got you.’Basically that’s how that went.

And how it went before that and how it went before that.”

Tripp has yet to prove how good of a football player he is, but he definitely gets an “A” for attitude. As ever, he was laughing and joking about the latest switch Tuesday.

• Asked how the move affects him: “More learning. By the time I leave here I’ll know the offensive plays, the defensive plays, what the receivers are supposed to do, what the quarterback’s supposed to do, all of it.”

• Asked if he would consider another position change: “Yeah, I may snap a little, maybe punt a little bit, might do kickoff, too.”

• Asked if he has ever played tight end: “I did it a little bit in high school my 10th and 11th-grade years. My senior year they really needed me on the offensive line, though. Yeah, it’s been a minute since I had the ball in my hands.”

• Asked if he had caught a pass from Matthew Stafford: “I’ve been catching on a ball machine, so that’s going to kind of simulate the speed of Stafford. But I haven’t quite gotten into the rotation with the ones, so I haven’t gotten the feel for ‘Staff’ yet.”

• On defensive backs having to defend him: “They’re clearly not going to want to tackle me. … They’ll probably try to hit me low, so I’ve got to work on my hurdling like Knowshon.”

Richt and the staff like what they’ve seen so far.

“He runs routes pretty decent, and he catches the ball pretty well,” Richt said. “There’s not many safeties that can take that on.”

Injury report

Figgins (shoulder) “is trying” to practice and prepare to play in the Tennessee game. Because he will have played in less than 30 percent of the first six games of the season he will still be eligible for a medical redshirt, Richt said. … Wide receiver Tony Wilson is going to be sidelined for the rest of the season to have ankle surgery, Richt said. … Wide receiver Walter Hill is out indefinitely with a broken foot. … Wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi sat out practice with a bruised chest. … Tailback Knowshon Moreno practiced full speed with his injured elbow heavily wrapped.

Etc.

Former Georgia and NFL linebacker Randall Godfrey spoke to the team Monday. He has returned to UGA to complete his degree. … The Bulldogs had a one-hour, full-contact practice, their first since the 41-30 loss to Alabama. “It was very healthy to get back to work,” Richt said. “It was very good medicine to practice.”