Kearis Jackson was back at practice for the Bulldogs. That sounded good, until the portion of Monday’s workout shifted to throwing and catching.
The redshirt freshman receiver participated. But with a huge club cast on his left hand, Jackson was unable to haul in the majority of passes that came his way. He did catch one during the 10-minute media observation period.
He was trying, usually with just his right hand. But it appears it will be a good while longer before the return of Jackson, who started Georgia’s season opener against Vanderbilt before suffering two fractures in the hand and fumbling at the end of a 32-yard catch.
Meanwhile, there were encouraging words – but still no definitive return date – for starting right tackle Isaiah Wilson. Wilson did not play against Murray State on Saturday and remains sidelined this week with an ankle injury that left him on crutches and in a walking boot.
“No timetable. Not sure when,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said during his weekly news conference Monday. “He’s out of the boot. He’s able to put some pressure on it. He’s going to be doing some underwater running and working on some things, but we have no idea. He may be available this week. It’s just going to be wait and see.”
The Bulldogs’ injury list is surprisingly long considering the Bulldogs’ soft competition coming into Saturday’s game against Arkansas State (1-1). Two other front-line players did not play against Murray State in cornerback D.J. Daniel (hamstring) and defensive end Julian Rochester (knee).
Rochester, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound senior with 19 career starts, is coming off ACL knee surgery last season. He has dressed out and traveled to the season opener, but he did not play in the first two games.
“Julian is healthy, practicing, doing everything,” Smart said Monday. “He’s got to earn playing time and go compete and work. I don’t know that he’s 100 percent confident in himself right now. But that part is up to him to earn the playing time.”
Offensive lineman Owen Condon (ankle) and receiver Tommy Bush (unknown) also were sidelined Saturday. Meanwhile, freshman quarterback D’Wan Mathis continues to practice but has yet to be cleared for contact in the wake of brain surgery this summer.
Smart was uncertain when Mathis might get the all clear.
“Every day I ask,” Smart said. “Tomorrow I’ll ask again. Hopefully one day he’s going to be cleared and we’ll be able to take him out there and play. I don’t have a set timeline, like ‘Week 7 he’s going to be able to go out there and do this.’ He’s been able to do more and more every week, and we continue to do that. He does a little bit more each time, but he’s not cleared yet.”
Smart thankful for new football facility
Smart was asked about the Georgia athletic board's approval Friday of a new $80 million football operations building, which will undergo construction after the season. Not surprisingly, he was very thankful."It's going to be a tremendous asset for us," he said. "… This team meeting room is 13th in the SEC, I think, in terms of seats. The weight room gives us an opportunity to work our whole team and not have to do three and four workouts of smaller groups in there. We can have two groups or one group if we want to with the size of our weight room. It's going to create a lot of benefits for our players to be able to use the facility and help us recruit."
The Bulldogs will be able to utilize the new facility before the 2021 season, but it won’t be fully completed until January 2022.
