Todd Gurley was back at practice Tuesday, and according to quarterback Aaron Murray, he was a sight for sore eyes.
“Beautiful as always,” said Murray, asked after practice how Gurley looked. “I was looking at him and I was like, ‘goodness, gracious that dude is huge.’ I mean he’s a pretty sucker to look at. He looked good. He did everything.
“Y’all see us when we do run polish. He did every rep with me, and he looked good. I asked him how he felt, and he said he feels good. We’ve got another two weeks, so he’ll be full go by Florida, hopefully. It’s definitely great to have him back.”
Gurley, a 6-foot-1, 232-pound sophomore, was leading the SEC in rushing when he went out down in the first quarter against LSU with a sprained ankle. His primary backup, Keith Marshall, went out with a season-ending knee injury the next week, and Gurley has missed the past three games while rehabbing. No coincidentally, the Bulldogs lost two of those three games.
The Bulldogs (4-3, 3-2 SEC), who have a bye Saturday, scheduled two practices this week, Tuesday and Thursday.
Georgia wide receiver Michael Bennett also should return for the Florida game. However, Bennett was limited Tuesday to running on the side, according to Murray. But he expects the return of Gurley and Bennett will do much to kick-start the Bulldogs’ offense, which was limited to a season-low 221 yards in Saturday’s 31-27 loss to Vanderbilt.
“I’ve said all along I think Todd is by far the best player in the country when he’s healthy and he’s out there,” said Murray, who had only 114 yards passing against the Commodores. “It’s not just what he’s able to do in the run game, but the pass game, too. It affects the safeties, it affects the linebackers, catching the ball out of the backfield. He really changes the games for us offensively. So it will be nice to have him back.”
It’s a good thing Gurley is returning because his understudies are banged up. Freshmen tailbacks Brendan Douglas (knee sprain, wrist sprain) and J.J. Green were held out of contact Tuesday because of injuries. But they’re expected to be recovered before the Florida game.
“J.J. and Brendan did a tremendous job,” Murray said. “To be in that circumstance … you couldn’t ask for more from those two guys. They did a tremendous job in the run game and the pass game. They got a lot of reps, and they’re both now going to be go-to’s and probably rotate a lot in the games. They’ve definitely earned the trust from the coaching staffs, their teammates and myself.”
But Gurley’s mere presence at practice seems to have re-energized the Bulldogs.
“I’ve only played with two other players — Jarvis Jones and A.J. Green — that are like Todd in this sense: He literally impacts everyone else on the field,” senior tight end Arthur Lynch said. “The defense has to game plan for him specifically. Not that those two young backs haven’t done a really good job for us because they have. But Todd is like all three, Keith, Brendan and J.J., built into one. That’s just not normal. He brings so much emotion and energy to the offense.”
He said it: "Everyone needs to do their job. We need to use this week and next week to really hone in on your craft, whatever it is, throwing the ball, running the ball, tackling, catching, snapping, kicking. Just focus in. It just seems like this year we've had these mental breakdowns. … That's what's killing us." — Murray on what he said when he addressed team Monday.
Etc.: Georgia's injury list grew considerably Tuesday, as players were given a chance to heal their aches and pains. Among the 21 players on the list — which includes players with season-ending injuries — were center David Andrews (foot sprain), safety Josh Harvey-Clemons, wide receiver Chris Conley (ankle), fullback Merritt Hall (concussion), safety Tray Matthews (hamstring), wide receiver Rhett McGowan (ankle), outside linebacker T.J. Stripling (ankle), offensive tackle Xzavier Ward (knee) and wide receiver Rantavious Wooten (bruised hip).
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