ATHENS — Georgia got the best news it could have hoped for Monday on Robert Beal.
The senior outside linebacker, who already was having to stand in for injured starter Nolan Smith, was determined to have suffered a “stinger” in Saturday’s game against Tennessee. Beal should be able to return to play soon, possibly as early as this Saturday’s road game against Mississippi State (7 p.m., ESPN).
“He feels good,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said at his weekly news briefing Monday. “We’ll see. I mean, I haven’t seen him (before practice Monday), but I feel good about him being able to play.”
It’s not a certainty, however. A “stinger,” sometimes referred to as a “burner,” is considered a neurological injury involving the spine. It usually is the result of a collision that stretches the brachial plexus nerves that extend from the neck through the shoulder and down to the arm and hands. That can result in a burning or numbing sensation. The severity of the injury is determined by range of motion.
Beal, who started last Saturday against No. 1 Tennessee, remained on the ground after taking on a blocker 40 seconds into the second half. After being looked at by trainers for several minutes on the field, Beal walked off under his own power. After further examination on the sideline, he was taken to the locker room for X-rays, which were negative.
Beal was replaced in the game by sophomore Chaz Chambliss, who finished with four tackles and a half-tackle for loss on 42 snaps. Freshman Marvin Jones Jr. played 10 snaps but did not record any stats, and freshman Jalon Walker got one repetition at the position.
Smart was asked how he felt Chambliss and Jones did as the primary players at the “Jack,” manned so well by Smith the last two seasons.
“I felt good about our guys stepping up,” he said. “We certainly need Robert to be healthy because, otherwise, we’re going to be really thin at that position. But the other guys are growing and getting better. … And they got to practice going into it, so they were a little more prepared for it. Still didn’t play perfect. The key is keeping those guys healthy.”
As Smart emphasized after the game Saturday, Georgia remains a “beat-up football team.” The Bulldogs played Tennessee without split end A.D. Mitchell (ankle) and offensive guard Xavier Truss (toe), both starters, and backup offensive tackle Amarius Mims (knee). They also had several players coming off a bout with the flu.
“The update is we’re hoping to get each one of them back this week,” Smart said.
