Georgia Facing Injury Issues as Showdown With Clemson Draws Closer

With fall camp now over, Clemson will officially begin preparation for Georgia on Monday.

While the Tigers are in a pretty good spot from an injury standpoint coming out of camp, the same can’t be said for Georgia.

Tight end Darnell Washington and defensive back Tykee Smith both suffered foot injuries in camp and are expected to miss up to a month. That puts their availability for the Clemson game in serious jeopardy.

The news of Washington’s injury comes after it was announced that transfer tight end Arik Gilbert was away from the team dealing with “personal issues.” There have been reports of a heated exchange between Gilbert and head coach Kirby Smart during a practice just before Gilbert left, although that has not been confirmed.

Gilbert was in part brought in due to the loss of wideout George Pickens, who tore an ACL in the spring. Pickens led the team in catches last season despite missing two games. He also led the Dawgs in touchdown receptions.

“We are beat up a little bit at wide out, we have some injuries so we don’t have all of our guys out there,” Smart said after a scrimmage last Saturday. “We have a lot of guys injured all around.”

Georgia still has playmakers Kearis Jackson and Jermaine Burton at receiver, but the depth has without question taken a hit. Not to mention, Jackson and Burton both have missed time during camp dealing with injuries.

It does not stop there, though. Starting center Warren Ericson suffered an injury to his snapping hand early in camp and is currently in a cast. Second-year center Sedrick Van Pran and senior Jamaree Salyer have been working at the position with Ericson taking mental reps.

An unofficial rundown on Georgia injuries:

TE Darnell Washington (foot)

TE John FitzPatrick (foot)

DB Tykee Smith (ankle)

C Warren Ericson (hand)

CB Jalen Kimber (shoulder)

OL Owen Condon (unknown)

WR Arik Gilbert (personal)

WR Dominick Blaylock (knee)

WR George Pickens (knee)