Kirby Smart Updates The Status Of Both Georgia Quarterbacks, As Auburn Game Looms

It's been an interesting few weeks in Athens regarding the status of quarterback JT Daniels, as the Dawgs look to get back their best passer. As you could tell in the Arkansas game, Georgia felt comfortable just running the football, not putting too much pressure on Stetson Bennett to throw. To be honest, they didn't need him slinging it around much anyway, but that will change on Saturday.

Georgia will head to Auburn for a key SEC matchup, and from the way Kirby Smart was discussing his rehab, JT Daniels still seems very questionable for the game. Smart was asked about the QB's progress in his effort to return to the field.

“I don’t know about finessing it. My first question with Ron (Courson): is he going to aggravate it and hurt worse, right, by not doing anything? And he said basically it’s a muscle injury. So anything that bothers it, you don’t want to do. But anything that doesn’t bother it, you want to continue to do. He’s able today to go out and do some soft toss, it didn’t bother it and that’s the same protocol he did with that. It was not a complete shutdown. There’s exercises he can do in our training room that are bands, and throwing motions, and things that don’t hurt him, that don’t bother him."

The Georgia head coach went on to explain that they are trying not to put Daniels in a spot that could re-aggravate his injury.

"As long as it doesn’t bother him, then we feel like we’re getting improvement, gradual improvement. And that’s the key because the last thing I want to do is push the envelope, reinjure, go back, then the constant cycle of that. So we’re not trying to finesse it to the point that, hey, we throw him out there. We’re trying to get him to do what he can without getting injured, and I’m not the expert of that, I can assure you. I do listen to what Ron says, and he also consults with other people.”

Kirby Smart also said veteran quarterback Stetson Bennett is still dealing with a lower back injury, but it doesn't seem to be affecting his performance.

“He’s looked good. His lower back still bothers him. He has to get treatment on it, but it's not to the point of affecting his performance right now. We have to be careful with him. And he's done a good job getting treatment on and staying on top of it. He's also got a big knee laceration from last week but hadn't affected performance or anything. But he's done a good job. Stetson’s a savvy vet. He understands the defenses, he’s very intelligent, and a lot of the football he’s had to learn is through other quarterbacks by sitting back and watching them. I think he enjoys getting an opportunity to go out there and do the things he's done.”

We will see how both quarterbacks deal with their respective injuries, but as of Wednesday, it sounds like Stetson Bennett may get the start at Auburn.