Kirby Smart provides injury update on Georgia players ahead of spring games

Kirby Smart led the Georgia Bulldogs to an 11-3 campaign last season. They won the SEC championship and secured a spot in the 12-team playoffs. However, the Bulldogs' quest for a natty came to an end at the hands of Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl CFP quarterfinal game.

The Bulldogs opened spring practice ahead of the new season this week. One of the most important goals for Kiby Smart this spring is to help in the rehabilitation of players suffering from injuries ahead of the 2025 season. According to reports, several key players went through offseason surgeries. Thus, some of these players will not be available during the whole of spring practice this year.

During a press conference Tuesday, Smart said that a total of nine players are out from spring practice this year. He then went ahead to compare this statistic to the past three seasons.

"Guys that are out for spring, I think we have nine total guys," Smart said as per On3.com. "I do a year-to-year average, I think 2024, we had 12 outs. 2023, we had eight, 2022, we had 14 outs. I think we're at eight or nine, depending on how you classify a couple of guys."

Smart went on to list out the players missing spring practice while detailing the type of injury they are rehabilitating from.

"We've got five shoulder injuries that happen at the end of the year. Those are all rehabbing right now," Smart said. "They're in really good progression in terms of getting back. Monroe, Gabe, Colton, Christen Miller and Jaylan Morgan all had labral repairs.

"Then, we got Ryan Montgomery, who has the ACL repair, Branson [Robinson], who had the PCL repair, Rod Robinson, who had the ankle repair. And then [Brett] Thorson, who you know had the ACL and MCL repair. Those are all guys that are working through things. They may be available for some things in spring, like walk-through type things, but not in spring practice," he added.

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Kirby Smart also gave an update on DL Joseph Jonah-Ajoyne. The former five-star player suffered a season-ending injury last year. However, Smart said that Ajoyne is almost recovered and will have limited playing time during spring practice to completely rehabilitate from his injury.

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Kirby Smart shares his thoughts on potential QB1 Gunner Stockton

Gunner Stockton joined the Georgia Bulldogs in 2022. After redshirting his freshman campaign, the quarterback spent the last two seasons behind Carson Beck. He made his debut as the starting quarterback during their Sugar Bowl loss to Notre Dame, where he recorded 234 yards and one TD passing.

Smart shared his thoughts on Stockton, praising his leadership skills and his knowledge of the game.

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"He's a tremendous leader, but that's nothing I didn't already know," Smart said. "He's done everything right since he's been here...He earns people's repsect by how he works and how he carries himself. He's got tremendous amount of confidence in his ability. He's got a lot of knowledge of our system, and I think that kind of resonates with the other players."

Kirby Smart will look to further assess Stockton's abilities during spring practice. Apart from him, he also has former four-star prospect Ryan Puglisi as an option on the depth chart. Puglisi joined the Bulldogs as an early enrollee in 2023 but has yet to take to the field.