Tramel Terry looks great on Georgia’s practice fields. The freshman wide receiver is running routes in his red (and notably not green) No. 1 jersey and catching passes and generally doing most everything the other receivers do.
But appearances can be deceiving. Terry said he’s not anywhere close to being the player the Bulldogs recruited out of Goose Creek, S.C. The ACL tear he suffered in December on the first play of the Shrine Bowl, a South Carolina-North Carolina football all-star game, remains an issue. And while he’s happy to practice, he said he’s not anywhere close to being ready to play against Clemson in three weeks.
“Right now I’m not ready,” Terry said after Friday morning’s practice. “I’ll be honest, I’m not ready at all. Hopefully I’ll find my way on special teams (this season). … I just have to keep learning. I’m going to be realistic. But I’ll be back, and I’ll be ready to go. And I’ll never take this game for granted.”
If you can sense a bit of frustration in Terry’s remarks, count yourself perceptive. The closer Georgia gets to opening the season, the more frustrated Terry becomes because heading on the fast track toward a redshirt season was not at all what he envisioned for himself when he committed to UGA.
The 6-foot, 184-pound speedster graduated from high school early with the intention of being a big part of the Bulldogs’ plans when they meet his home state’s two primary universities in the first two games of this season. But then he accepted an invitation to play in the Shrine Bowl and suffered an ACL tear returning the opening kickoff.
He still bemoans the trip to the Shriners Hospital, when he was arbitrarily chosen to sit on an operating table so a doctor could demonstrate how to surgically repair a knee. It was an omen that still makes Terry shudder.
“I felt like something was going to happen, and it did,” Terry said. “It really eats me up. That’s why I’m pressing so much to get back.”
But as coaches and teammates are telling Terry, there’s no need to rush. The Bulldogs are well-stocked at wide receiver. Twelve other players are manning the position, including several who already have excelled in college.
“I’m not a selfish guy. If they need me to play, I’ll play,” Terry said. “I might be ready. I might wake up one day and feel like my old self. Right now I don’t.”
Offensive newbies: Terry was one of six offensive newcomers UGA made available Friday for interviews for the first time this preseason. The others were tight end Jordan Davis, wide receiver Reggie Davis, tailbacks Brendan Douglas and J.J. Green and wide receiver Jonathan Rumph. Some of the highlights:
Rumph, on UGA’s explosive offense: “The thing that’s so crazy to me is I’ve never been on a team with so many weapons. That’s the scary thing. We have so many weapons and everybody knows what to do. … I feel like we’re going to shock a lot of people.”
Green on returning kickoffs: “Everybody that’s back there practicing has a chance. As you can see it changes every week for Georgia. Right now it’s me, (Damian) Swann, Malcolm (Mitchell), Todd (Gurley), Keith (Marshall), Reggie (Davis) and (Brendan) Langley.”
Reggie Davis on who is the team’s fastest player: “I’d like to settle it (with Marshall and Justin Scott-Wesley), but we don’t want risk anybody pulling a hamstring this close to the season. … I think I would (win), though.”
Etc.: Kolton Houston has gotten some first-team snaps at right tackle. … Georgia will hold its second special-teams practice of the preseason Saturday morning. It will be the first of two practices of the day and the last two-a-day of camp. The Bulldogs will have their traditional watermelon cutting afterward. … Starting free safety Tray Matthews was held out of Friday's full-contact practice with a hamstring strain and still has shoulder issues. … There were 17 players on UGA's injury report, including two new names: LB Tim Kimbrough (knee sprain) and tailback A.J. Turman (knee and ankle sprains).
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