Georgia’s Aaron Murray is known for being effusive in his praise of teammates, overly so at times. Nevertheless, he seems genuinely impressed when it comes to his appraisal of first-year tailback Brendan Douglas.
“He’s a little ball of muscle is what he is,” Murray said of the 5-foot-11, 202-pound freshman. “He’s shredded. He looks like Thor. That dude’s ripped. But a great back. He’s just running people over. He hurdled a DB last week in the scrimmage, an unbelievable play.
“Tough kid. And one of our best blocking running backs right now. He’s not afraid to stick his nose in there, I don’t care who it is, and knock them under the chin.”
Douglas was the Bulldogs’ leading rusher in their last controlled scrimmage of preseason last Wednesday with seven carries for 50 yards going against Georgia’s No. 1 defense. More importantly, Douglas has been picking up the playbook.
Even starter Todd Gurley has taken notice.
“That guy’s a hard runner,” Gurley said. “He’s a great player. He listens to coaching well and he’ll go far if he does that. He’s going in there and running as hard as possible every play.”
That was Douglas’ reputation when he starred at Aquinas High School in Augusta. He rushed for nearly 3,000 yards and 49 touchdowns his junior and senior seasons.
Douglas will have to be special to get into games on offense. Not only does he have Gurley and Keith Marshall in front of him, but he also is competing with fellow freshmen J.J. Green and A.J. Turman and veteran walk-ons Brandon Harton and Kyle Karempelis for the No. 3 spot.
But from what he’s seen, Murray thinks Douglas should be on the field somewhere.
“He’s worked his tail off and definitely deserves some playing time,” Murray said. “Obviously it’s going to be tough with Todd and Keith in there to get him in. But he definitely can make an impact whenever he’s in the game.”
Douglas was sidelined during practice Monday with an undisclosed injury and withheld from interviews. A UGA spokesperson said Douglas was “being evaluated” afterward but the injury is not expected to be serious.
Injuries an issue: It has become a repetitive refrain during camp, but Georgia's progress continues to be impacted by a long list of injured players. There were at least 17 players who were either limited in practice under no-contact restrictions or out altogether. Headlining the list of sidelined players were three front-line starters in flanker Malcolm Mitchell (knee swelling) and safeties Tray Matthews (hamstring) and Corey Moore (knee sprain). It was the first time in the preseason Mitchell has been out while Matthews and Moore have been sidelined nearly two weeks.
A new name on the list was defensive back Devin Bowman. The redshirt sophomore from Rossville, a backup at cornerback and nickel, was sidelined with a hamstring strain. Wideouts Chris Conley (shoulder), Reggie Davis (knee) and Rhett McGowan (ankle) practiced on a limited basis. Returning to the field but remaining limited were tight end Jay Rome (ankle) and defensive lineman Chris Mayes (concussion).
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