ATHENS – Georgia coach Kirby Smart stopped short of saying Brock Bowers definitely will be back for the Bulldogs this season. However, the fact that the star tight end elected to aggressively treat his high-ankle sprain with surgery on Monday is an indication how serious Bowers is about being able to play football again as soon as possible.
“Brock Bowers is great; Brock Bowers is rock solid,” Smart said Tuesday evening after the Bulldogs’ first practice for the Oct. 28 game against Florida in Jacksonville. “He wanted to get thing done as soon as he found out it had to be done. We were able to expedite that process. He’s great, he looked everybody in the eyes today and was wishing he could be out there. He’s in great spirits, he’s got a great family, he’s got great heart. He’s a warrior, so he’ll handle it the right way.”
Tuesday was Smart’s first opportunity to provide detailed answers about the recovery process Bowers will be facing over the next several weeks. When Bowers initially suffered the injury at the end of a 14-yard run midway through the second quarter of Saturday’s 37-20 win over Vanderbilt in Nashville, Smart was still expressing hope that it was not the dreaded high-ankle sprain.
After imaging tests confirmed that it indeed was, Smart said Bowers and his family made a quick decision Sunday to undergo the now well-known tight-rope surgical procedure in order to return to the field of play as fast as possible. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was able to return in less than five weeks when he underwent the same procedure while at Alabama. Others, however, have taken longer.
But Smart wasn’t about to provide anything resembling a timeline.
“There is no timeline for when he comes back to play,” Smart said. “The timeline is when he’s healthy, and I don’t think you could put a timeline on it because historically there’s been guys that came back really fast and guys that have come back really slow. Each one is different.”
Medical websites offer extremely broad recovery prognoses ranging from four to 12 weeks. It took Georgia freshman tight end Lawson Luckie eight weeks to come back from the same surgery after suffering a similar injury in preseason camp. Now being pressed into a bigger role with Bowers sidelined, Smart said Luckie remains below 100% recovered. He has dressed out the last three weeks and played sparingly the last two.
But Smart confirmed that Bowers is preparing to attack his recovery like he does everything else when it comes to training to play football.
“To get healthy, you need to get back moving that ankle as soon as you can, meaning get on it, get weight-bearing,” Smart said. “We’ve had guys go through this process. Brock will take on that same rehab process, and his surgeon and Ron (Courson, football’s director of sports medicine) will work together on that to get him back. It won’t be done any different. The key is, we’re trying to get him back healthy.”
Smart eventually became annoyed as he continued to field questions about Bowers’ possible return during his 18-minute press conference. He snapped when asked toward the end if he was “sure” Bowers would play again for the Bulldogs.
“You really think I’m going to answer that question? Is that all this is about, all y’all want to talk about is whether he’ll be back or not?” Smart snapped. “That is the furthest thing from my concern. My concern is this team and getting Brock Bowers healthy. To answer that question is speculative. I’m not going to speculate.”
There is also Bowers’ NFL draft status to consider. As a two-time All-American and Georgia’s leading receiver for a third consecutive year, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound native of Napa, Calif., projected as an almost-certain top-10 selection in April. That was, of course, before he suffered this injury. For that reason, the Bulldogs are expected to err on the side of caution with Bowers’ recovery.
It is reasonable, then, to assume that Georgia will be without Bowers for at least four weeks. That means he’ll definitely miss the Florida (Oct. 28), Missouri (Nov. 4) and Ole Miss (Nov. 11) games. That would leave Bowers with an outside shot at making it back for the Bulldogs’ Nov. 18 trip to Tennessee or the regular-season finale against Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
Bowers certainly should be in position to play should Georgia make the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 2. The College Football Playoff would seem a virtual certainty if Bowers decides to stick with the Bulldogs.
No. 1 Georgia, which tied an SEC record with its 18th consecutive week as the top-ranked team in the Associated Press poll, remains confident it can continue its winning ways regardless of when Bowers gets back.
“Our morale is good,” sophomore offensive guard Dylan Fairchild said. “Our whole philosophy is ‘next man up.’”
Sophomore Oscar Delp moves into the primary tight end role, with Luckie and freshman Pearce Spurlin handling second- and third-string duties. The Bulldogs’ offense likely will operate less out of “12″ personnel, the two-tight end set that has been the team’s signature the last two seasons. But they believe in wide receivers and running backs, they have plenty of other elite football players to fill Bowers’ void.
Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com
In each of Georgia’s national championship runs the last two years, the Bulldogs had to overcome losses of key offensive players in George Pickens and Adonai “A.D.” Mitchell, who made postseason comebacks from injuries.
“It’s something we’re all going to have to overcome and we’re all going to have to step up,” senior split end Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint said. “We just have to play better and perform at a higher level missing a piece of the puzzle. We’ve got other guys who are ready to step up.”
The key, Smart said, is for no one player to feel like they have to play like Bowers in order to cover for his absence.
“If they think one guy is going to replace Brock Bowers, they’re wrong,” Smart said. “If anybody thinks they have to be Superman, they don’t need to be on our team. Because they’ll be disappointed. Superman is not real. He’s dead.
“He’s not alive. He’s not real. You can’t try to be that guy. There is no player that we’re asking to step up and do more than you can. As a collective effort, every player is going to do more.That includes defense getting turnovers, special teams getting better field position. Other guys get the opportunity to touch the ball and make the most of it.”
