UGA's Rambo has 'recovered extremely well'

By Tim Tucker

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATHENS – About 18 hours after he lay unconscious on the Sanford Stadium grass, bringing a hush to the crowd of 92,000-plus, Georgia safety Bacarri Rambo was "laughing and joking like normal," a teammate said Sunday.

Rambo, knocked out in a collision with an Auburn receiver late in Saturday night's game, was carted off the field and taken by ambulance to an Athens hospital, where he remained until Sunday afternoon. Extensive tests revealed that he suffered a concussion but no other injuries, Georgia coach Mark Richt said.

"Every test he has been through, he has passed with flying colors,"  Richt said Sunday evening.

Richt said Rambo will not play in this week's game against Kentucky and added that it's too soon to know whether he might be available for the Nov. 28 regular-season finale against Georgia Tech.

Also Sunday, Richt said wide receiver A.J. Green, who suffered a sprained joint in his left shoulder against Auburn, will not play this week. Green's status for the Tech game is also unknown, Richt said.

By late Sunday afternoon, Rambo was back in Georgia's football facility, reassuring teammates that everything is OK.

"He's downstairs, laughing and joking like normal," linebacker Christian Robinson said. "I just asked him how he's doing and he told me he's all right."

Rambo, a redshirt freshman from Donalsonville, Ga., was not available for an interview.

He collapsed to the ground after making a key defensive play late in Georgia's 31-24 victory over Auburn. He was briefly unconscious, Richt said, but regained consciousness and showed movement in all extremities before being placed on a spine board and transported to St. Mary's Hospital.

Rambo was held overnight at the hospital for observation and diagnostic testing. All tests were normal.

"He really has recovered extremely well," Richt said.  "There's really no symptoms from it – no headaches, no neck pain."

Rambo will continue to be assessed on a daily basis by Georgia's medical staff.

The finish of Saturday's game was delayed for 12 tense minutes while Rambo was attended to by medical personnel.

"Just to see him laying there was scary," Robinson said.  When play resumed, Georgia made two more stellar defensive plays to preserve the victory.

"We were able to relay to the fellows that he was going to be OK and that the best thing we could do for him at that point was finish strong and win this game, not only play with emotion but play with intelligence too," Richt said.

"Everybody was saying, ‘Hey, let's win this one for Rambo,' " quarterback Joe Cox said.

The night's major injury to Green, Georgia's top offensive playmaker, is not expected to require surgery, Richt said.  Whether Green returns to action against Georgia Tech is up in the air.

"Not only do you want the soreness out [of the shoulder], but you want it to be strong, too," Richt said. "We've just got to see how quickly we can get him pain-free and then from there, we'll see. Just because he's pain-free doesn't necessarily mean he'll be ready to play. We'll just kind of play it by ear right now."

This week's practices will determine who starts  in Green's place, said Richt, who expressed dissatisfaction with the receivers' blocking against Auburn.

Etc.

Kentucky quarterback Mike Hartline will have knee surgery this week and miss the Wildcats' final two regular-season games, including Saturday's at Georgia. Freshman Morgan Newton will start at quarterback for the Cats, with the versatile Randall Cobb also getting some direct snaps. ... The Georgia-Kentucky game will be televised on ESPN2. Kickoff is 7:45 p.m. ... Georgia linebacker Darius Dewberry is expected to play this week despite hyper-extending an elbow against Auburn.