Kirby Smart Reveals JT Daniels Had Knee 'Cleaned Up' Following Surgery

JT Daniels tore his ACL in the opening game of the 2019 season, and Kirby Smart reveled that Daniels had the knee cleaned up and it's slowed his return.

Kirby Smart is beyond fluent in coach speak. It's something he learned from his predecessor, Nick Saban. Say just enough to answer the question, but never give away the information you are aspiring to protect. He's been a savant when it comes to keeping things close to the vest. 

So, when he continued to harp on JT Daniels not being fully cleared, though a full participant at practice and during scrimmages, most just assumed that Smart was just doing the thing he always does, protecting the information he wants to be kept close to the vest. Though this time, it wasn't coach speak. It wasn't him keeping Sam Pittman and other opposing coaches on their toes, Daniels' return to action has been hindered. 

Smart revealed during Tuesday's press conference that Daniels had a repair done on his left knee several months after the initial surgery and it's slowed his return. 

On J.T. Daniels’ condition and, aside from being cleared to play, what he has to do to be ready to take the field…

“Be tackled. To be hit. That’s a medical decision that is usually based on… You know the interesting thing with J.T. that I don’t think everyone understands is that he’s post-op, a lot further than most ACLs. Post his surgery fixing it. He had a repair done, I want to say either December or January, he had to go in and do some of those things to fix it from the original surgery and that was before we even knew about him or with him. That put him behind a little bit. The part about him getting cleared, we certainly expect him to get cleared and think he will get cleared but that’s not my decision. That goes a lot into Ron [Courson] and them. That goes into flexibility. That goes into strength. How far is the left knee from the right knee? What is the girth of the knee? What is the muscle mass missing? There are a lot of things that go into it that the doctors have to do to clear him medically, to clear him to take hits, to be able to play.”

There's been plenty of rumors and speculation flying around the Georgia football program about the quarterback situation. And as we've reported, D'Wan Mathis has taken the majority of the reps during their final scrimmage, and it was D'Wan Mathis taking the majority of the reps when they returned to practice on Tuesday, and perhaps this is exactly why. 

Though Kirby Smart continues to be confident that Daniels will be cleared for their opening game of the season against Arkansas, but at this point, a mere 10 days from kickoff in Fayetteville, it's time to begin identifying who will be taking those first snaps, and without Daniels being fully cleared, it's not reasonable to assume at this point that it's going to be him taking those snaps. 

As Smart alluded to, it's likely going to be a game-time decision, at least in terms of any public announcement regarding the starter. But that's not going to stop them from beginning to tip their hand a bit in practice. And Saturday's scrimmage was exactly that. A tipping of the hand. They are grooming D'Wan to begin the season it appears, will it remain that way throughout the season? There's really no telling. In fact, Smart didn't rule out a chance for both quarterbacks to rotate. 

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