Nick Chubb insisted throughout last football season that all was well in his recovery from the October 2015 surgery to repair knee ligaments that were torn at Tennessee.
Chubb knows now that wasn't entirely the case.
Georgia's senior tailback admitted Saturday during a media session in Athens that he can do things nearly 18 months after the setback that he couldn't a year removed from the injury. Chubb still managed to rush for 1,130 yards and eight touchdowns last season, though his 5.0 yards per carry was well off his 7.1- and 8.1-yard clips from his first two years.
"I wasn't hurt last season, but it was kind of different," Chubb said. "I don't know how to explain it. Maybe it's my range of motion and my ability to move more and quicker. I didn't start running until June last year, so the season was just around the corner.
"This time last year, I was hopping around on crutches, and now I'm running with my team and sprinting, and I'm getting a lot more repetition. I think it's better."
Georgia held its third spring practice Saturday and will resume workouts Tuesday.
Chubb evoked memories of his 1,547-yard freshman season and the 13 consecutive 100-yard games he produced before the injury during last year's 33-24 opening victory over North Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. That turned out to be an aberration, however, as he had just one 100-yard performance (121 at South Carolina) in the next eight games.
An ankle injury in the fourth game at Ole Miss didn't help, but Chubb wound up surpassing 100 yards in three of the last four games, including a 142-yard performance in the Liberty Bowl win over TCU.
Chubb has spoken about the recovery process with former Bulldogs tailback Robert Edwards, who scored five touchdowns in the 1995 opener against South Carolina and was averaging 7.2 yards per carry when he suffered a season-ending knee injury. Edwards averaged 4.3 yards per carry in 1996 and 5.5 in 1997, when Jim Donnan's Bulldogs ended seven years of futility against Florida and finished 10-2.
"Robert Edwards told me the first year back would be hard and the second year would be better," Chubb said, "and I see that coming into play."
Chubb announced before the bowl game that he would be returning for his senior season, and his 3,424 career rushing yards already rank second in program history. First on that list is the legendary Herschel Walker, who needed only three years to amass 5,259 yards.
Given that classmate Sony Michel has averaged 1,000 rushing yards the past two seasons and also is worthy of carries, the chance of Chubb compiling the 1,836 needed to top Walker may not even be worth discussing.
Or is it?
"It's a long shot," Chubb said. "It would be nice, but that's a hard one."
Odds and ends
Sophomore receiver Riley Ridley has yet to practice this spring due to a foot injury. Sophomore cornerback Mecole Hardman was playing some at receiver Saturday during the portion of practice that was open to the media. Senior Isaiah Wynn told reporters that he has worked all week at left tackle and wants to stay there.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.