ATHENS -- Georgia tailback Todd Gurley did not practice again Wednesday but an even bigger development could be that safety Tray Matthews was held out as well.
Matthews, a freshman and the Bulldogs' starter at free safety, "tweaked" his hamstring at the end of practice on Tuesday and spent Wednesday's practice in the training room at the Butts-Mehre football complex, according to coach Mark Richt.
"We'll have to see how bad it was," Richt said. "But it was bad enough he couldn't go today."
Matthews, who is Georgia's fourth-leading tackler with 20 and has the team's only interception, missed nearly three weeks of preseason camp due to a hamstring pull. Richt was not certain Wednesday how the Bulldogs might proceed without Matthews.
"I don't know; you'll have to ask todd," he said, referring to defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. "'I don't know' sometimes means I don't want to tell everybody. But I'm not exactly sure how we'll do it. We've got to make some decisions if in fact he can't go."
Freshman Quincy Mauger is listed as his backup at free safety but senior Connor Norman and junior Corey Moore also play the position.
Matthews was not available to answer questions, but a tweet he sent out after practice Wednesday makes it appear he won't be able to play Saturday and perhaps longer.
"Everything happens for a reason, right," he tweeted. "Talking to Malcolm (Mitchell) haha. He's like. how (you) think I feel every day."
Tailback J.J. Green said he can’t say for sure how many times he has heard “you’re one play away from playing” from Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and running backs coach Bryan McClendon.
Here is a clue that your trip to sunny south Florida may not be a carefree vacation: You’re a football team, and you lose one of your starters during warm-ups.
If nothing else, Georgia has ensured at least one thing about its season. Regardless of where the rest of the schedule takes them, whether its to an SEC championship, a BCS bowl bid or a national title, there will be no claims from outsiders that this team received too many breaks and escaped health issues, no suggestions that the road to success was lined with lollipops and unicorns.
Having been at Georgia four seasons now, soccer coach Steve Holeman doesn’t weird out nearly as much as he once did about playing Ole Miss, where he coached for 15 years.
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