ATHENS — Zero.
That’s how many healthy plays the Georgia Bulldogs have gotten out of Jalen Carter this season. According to coach Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs’ preseason All-American defensive tackle injured his left ankle on his first snap from scrimmage against Oregon in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game on Sept. 3. Carter has been playing hurt or not playing at all ever since.
His snap total for the season sits at 65 heading into Game 8 on Saturday against Florida in Jacksonville (3:30 p.m., CBS). Carter has not played in the last two games.
Almost immediately upon return from the ankle injury – early in the second quarter against Missouri – Carter suffered an MCL sprain of his left knee on an unflagged, illegal chop block. Carter’s action since then has all been in the training room at the Butts-Mehre Football Complex. As of Monday, he has not returned to the practice field.
“It’s the knee right now; it’s the MCL,” Smart said Monday. “But the degree of that, severity of that, it just depends on conditioning level, how fast he can get back. He’s working to get back.”
Georgia could really use Carter this week. The 6-foot-3, 300-pound junior from Apopka, Fla., is the ultimate run stuffer and inside force for the Bulldogs’ defense. And while Florida does not do many things well on offense, it runs the football better than any team Georgia has faced so far.
The Gators are No. 1 in FBS with an average 6.4 yards per carry. If they maintain that pace for the rest of the season, it would break the school record established in 2008 (5.9). Florida boasts three of the top four rushers in the SEC in yards per carry in running back Montrell Johnson Jr. (7.2), quarterback Anthony Richardson (7.1) and running back Trevor Etienne (6.3).
Georgia has been no slouch against the run even with Carter sidelined. With juniors Zion Logue and Nazir Stackhouse manning the middle on rush downs, and freshman Bear Alexander on passing down, the Bulldogs lead the SEC and are ranked fourth in FBS against the run. They’re giving up 83.4 yards per game and 3.3 yards per attempt.
But those numbers actually are a downgrade from last season. At this point in 2021, Georgia was giving up 2.2 yards per carry and 64 rushing yards a game.
Carter’s return could restore some order in that regard, but there’s no guarantee he would be back to his old self.
“You know, he’s a phenomenal player. I think you can look at the history there and see that,” Smart said. “How does (his absence) affect you? You know, it affects your depth more than anything. But it’s not like he’s a one-trick pony. I mean, he can really pass-rush well, too. He can play the run, he’s disruptive. So, you know, it affects everything because he’s a really phenomenal player, and you’d like to have him out there.”
Based on his time out of the lineup, Carter’s injury was at least a Grade 2 or 3 MCL sprain. According to online medical journals, that calls for a rehabilitation time of at least two to four weeks with regular physical therapy. Carter has been getting that – and then some.
UGA claims to possess one of the most cutting-edge training facilities in the U.S. within its brand-new, $80 million football operations center. Carter has been getting intensive physical therapy and treatment under the supervision of sports medicine director Ron Courson for 25 days, as of Tuesday. It will be four weeks when Georgia kicks off Saturday.
Even more likely is that Georgia will see the return of split end A.D. Mitchell. The sophomore and star of January’s national championship game has been sidelined for seven weeks with a high-ankle sprain suffered in the first quarter against Samford on Sept. 10.
Smart said linebacker Smael Mondon (ankle) and running back Kendall Milton (groin) have returned to practice this week and are cleared to play against the Gators.
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