MIAMI — Kirby Smart did not offer any specifics regarding which of his players might not take part in the Orange Bowl. Yet it appears the list could be smaller than first thought.
“Right now, we’ve got our guys that are healthy, playing; guys who are healthy have said they are going to play,” Smart said upon the team’s arrival at the Miami International Airport Tuesday afternoon. “But we do have guys who are dinged up and injured trying to fight their way back. We’ll see if they can go or not in the game.”
That list includes tight end Brock Bowers, who did travel with the team, along with right tackle Amarius Mims and wide receiver Ladd McConkey.
Smart indicated it would be Bowers’ decision whether or not he will play.
"That's up to Brock. Brock's been with us the whole time and he's been doing all the things he's got to do,” Smart said. "It's more important, though, that he's 100 percent. The guy probably played earlier than he should have, came out there and competed his butt off. He's done everything he can for Georgia. He's not 100 percent, so it makes it a little harder to do."
Smart said he expects McConkey to be able to play.
"Ladd's been great. Ladd's been practicing with us, working out. Ladd wants to play. Ladd's missed some games and hasn't been able to play in some games,” Smart said. “He's still coming off of an injury in the SEC Championship Game that he's still not 100 percent from. But he's out there every day, taking reps, catching punts, he's doing a lot of good things. He's doing a lot of good things (inaudible). He's practicing, hitting good miles per hour. Ladd should be good to go."
Safety Javon Bullard spoke to the media and said he definitely intends to play.
“I’m playing. I’m going to finish what I started,” Bullard said. “As far as my decision, I don’t want to speak on that, but as far as this game, I’m playing and having fun with my guys.”
Bullard was later asked if he expects junior cornerback Kamari Lassiter to play.
“I expect everybody to play,” Bullard told UGASports after his brief media session was complete.
Georgia will hold two practices in Miami before Saturday’s game.
“We’re excited to get down here. We had a Monday practice on Christmas Day. We got a little practice in this morning. We’re going to get in the weather tomorrow, and hopefully avoid rain on Thursday,” Smart said. “But our guys have been great. Practice has been a lot better since we came back. We've got a lot of midyears. I’m excited to see how these guys are going to play.”
Smart shrugged off the fact that numerous Florida State players have opted out of the game.
Per the Georgia head coach, it never was about the Seminoles anyway.
"We've taken the approach of, it's not about them, it's about us. We don't really know, but it doesn't matter to us. We're trying to play to our standard, and we're always trying to play to our standard,” Smart said. “We've had a lot more good on good in practice. It's probably been the best bowl practice in terms of not going against the scout team and going against each other. When you don't know what you're going to see, you’re better off going against really good people. We've done a lot of 1s on 2s, 2s on 2s, and a lot more 3s on 3s than we ever have with the good depth from the nine, ten, and eleven midyears that are there now. We've been able to get a lot of depth."
Bullard said the Bulldogs will be ready.
“We’ve got a chip on our shoulders,” Bullard said. “We want to prove something.”