Old familiar faces

One good thing about a month off between the SECCG and the bowl game is that there’s enough time passing to allow for a return of the walking wounded.

Kirby Smart met with reporters on Monday for the first time since the SEC Championship game where he revealed that multiple UGA players have benefited from a couple of weeks off to heal.

Sophomore inside linebacker Monty Rice has practiced the past couple of days and should be ready for the Sugar Bowl. Freshman offensive lineman Cade Mays is practicing and is “good to go.” while redshirt sophomore Ben Cleveland has improved a great deal from where he was two weeks ago in his comeback from a leg injury.

Rice suffered a foot injury during the pre-game warmup prior to UMass in November. He missed that game, Georgia Tech, and Alabama in the SEC Championship game. He also missed the Missouri game earlier this season with a knee injury. It looked as if he might give it a go in the SEC title game. He warmed up with the team as a second-team inside linebacker but he didn’t appear in the 35-28 loss. Despite missing four contests this season, Rice is still Georgia’s second-leading tackler with 59 starts.

All good there. So is this:  “Senior outside linebacker D’Andre Walker, who missed the fourth quarter of the SEC Championship game against Alabama, should be good to go for the Sugar Bowl.”

Too bad they won’t get David Marshall back in time.