Barring the unforeseen in practice this week, the Georgia Bulldogs should be toting a clean bill of health to Saturday's showdown against Florida in Jacksonville.
"Right now, we look very healthy," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said Sunday afternoon.
The Bulldogs began this season with junior Christian Robinson and sophomore Alec Ogletree as the starting inside linebackers in Todd Grantham's 3-4 scheme. Ogletree broke his foot in the opening loss to Boise State, and Robinson injured his foot the next week in a loss to South Carolina, which caused him to miss two games.
Junior Michael Gilliard and freshman Amarlo Herrera were elevated to starting roles and excelled, but Ogletree is now back, giving Georgia four capable inside linebackers who can expect to see time against the Gators.
"I can't tell you for sure who we're going to start at inside linebacker, but I know 'Tree' will be one of them," Richt said.
The biggest question mark for Georgia this week is freshman receiver Malcolm Mitchell, who suffered a hamstring injury during a 71-yard reception in the 20-12 win at Tennessee on Oct. 8. The 6-foot-1, 187-pounder was limited in practice last week, which consisted of just Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mitchell leads the Bulldogs with 25 receptions for 438 yards and three touchdowns.
"He was running straight ahead, but that's the only thing I saw him do," Richt said. "I didn't see him open it up full speed, and I didn't see him change direction. When you talk to him, he always says that he's going to be fine, but I have not seen him run a route yet or change direction."
Junior safety Bacarri Rambo suffered a toe injury late in the 33-28 win at Vanderbilt and did not practice last week, but Richt expects him to go today. The only player expected out this week is reserve junior receiver Rantavious Wooten, who has not been cleared for a concussion.
The Bulldogs, of course, will be without junior safety Shawn Williams and sophomore nose Kwame Geathers for the first half Saturday as the result of their suspensions doled out last week by the Southeastern Conference.
David Paschall is a sports writer for the Times Free Press. He started at the Chattanooga Free Press in 1990 and was part of the Times Free Press when the paper started in 1999. David covers University of Georgia football, as well as SEC football recruiting, SEC basketball, Chattanooga Lookouts baseball and other sports stories. He is a Chattanooga native and graduate of the Baylor School and Auburn University. David has received numerous honors for ...
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