Georgia Tech freshman Kyle Cerge-Henderson said he was prepared to play when defensive tackle Adam Gotsis suffered a season-ending knee injury early in last week’s loss to Virginia.
The group was already thinned by the suspension of Jabari Hunt, which may have heightened the level of readiness. Hunt is also supposed to miss next Thursday’s game against Virginia Tech.
“We all knew we were working on having a three-man rotation,” he said. “With one man down, we had to be ready for everybody to play.”
Defensive coordinator Ted Roof said the extra practice time this week with the bye has allowed some of the younger players, including another freshman defensive lineman, Anree Saint-Amour, to get more reps.
“The only way they are going to get better is to play,” Roof said. “This is their opportunity and when their times come they have to be ready because they owe it to the team.”
If Saint-Amour continues to practice well, he will play more, Roof said.
“He will play more because he earned that and did a good job with the reps he had,” Roof said.
Though Gotsis left last week’s game, Cerge-Henderson said he quickly returned to the sidelines and began coaching the younger players on the sideline. It’s the same thing he started doing when Cerge-Henderson enrolled in January.
“Adam has been like a big brother to me,” Cerge-Henderson said. “Any wrong step, any minor step he’ll tell me to make it easier on me.”
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