UGA Football Injury Report: Will Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey Suit Up Against Alabama?

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ATHENS - UGA Football was missing several key players in its 31-23 victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday. 

Kirby Smart and his staff elected to hold out multiple starters that were questionable to play at Bobby Dodd. That may have been a choice with a huge SEC Championship game on the horizon. 

Nick Saban and Alabama will make the trip to Atlanta to play a Georgia team that holds the No. 1 ranking but really has not been at full strength all season. 

Smart and Saban participated in a teleconference call on Sunday, and the former addressed the local media again in a press conference on Monday. What are the latest updates on the injured Georgia Bulldogs from coach Smart?

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Brock Bowers

Bowers was dressed out against Georgia Tech, but he did not play in the game. This is after he returned from tightrope ankle surgery after only missing three games. His progress was incredible, yet there have been challenges and soreness for Bowers. 

Smart offered up more than he usually does in Sunday’s teleconference in regards to Bowers’ health.

“As far as last night, Brock was probably the closest of being able to go of those guys. Just didn't feel as good as he had. He was a little sore. We wanted to be able to use him situationally, see what he could do if he felt comfortable with it. Just didn't think he could go. Nothing about who we're playing or anything else. He's got to be able to go compete at the highest level and be able to feel good about what he's doing. We didn't feel that he had that last night,” Smart said. 

Bowers’ being held out seemed precautionary with him playing in the previous two games.

Ladd McConkey

After fighting back from a back injury, McConkey tweaked his ankle against Ole Miss and was held out of the Tennessee game. He did not practice at all leading up to that game. 

On Sunday, Smart called McConkey’s situation “day-to-day” which is the verbiage that was often used during his back injury recovery. 

Tate Ratledge

Like Bowers, Ratledge dressed out against Georgia Tech but did not play. He banged knees with someone in the Tennessee game early on and did not go back in after that.

“Tate (Ratledge), he may have, could have played, but he wasn't 100%. We're hopeful to get him back,” Smart said. 

Rara Thomas

Rara Thomas injured his ankle in Knoxville against Tennessee. He did not play against Georgia Tech on Saturday. The verbiage with him was the same as it was for McConkey in terms of his recovery. 

Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Julian Humphrey

Jamon Dumas-Johnson broke his arm in the game against Missouri and Julian Humphrey suffered some sort of upper body injury against Ole Miss in the following week. Neither of those players have seen the field since they went down. 

A reporter pushed Smart on when Dumas-Johnson would return and if there was a chance that it would be this week, but Smart wouldn’t budge. 

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