Nico Iamaleava injury update: Tennessee QB's status vs. Georgia

What we know as Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava expects to play against Georgia after exiting last week's game with an undisclosed injury.

Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava hopes to play on Saturday against the Georgia Bulldogs after sustaining an injury. / Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava should be available to play in Saturday’s game against Georgia after exiting last week’s win with an upper body injury, head coach Josh Heupel said.

“We anticipate having him back for next week,” Heupel said, adding that the decision to sit the quarterback was a “precautionary measure at halftime. Feel like we’ll be ready to roll Saturday.”

That news should allow Vols fans to breathe a sigh of relief after watching their quarterback deal with what appeared to be a serious injury that forced him out of action.

Iamaleava didn’t return to play in the second half of Tennessee’s eventual win against Mississippi State after taking a hard hit late in the first half of action.

Tennessee didn’t disclose the nature of Iamaleava’s injury, but he landed hard on his right side after a hit from Bulldogs defender Isaac Smith.

Prior to the injury, Iamaleava was 8 of 13 passing for 174 yards and 2 touchdown passes while adding 22 more yards on 4 carries.

The quarterback connected with Squirrel White on a 34-yard touchdown pass and found Dont’e Thornton on a 73-yard scoring play to build an early lead.

Tennessee would prefer to have all hands on deck this weekend in a potentially season-defining game on the road against Georgia.

Georgia is now at two SEC losses after a 28-10 defeat at Ole Miss last Saturday and will be playing to keep itself in the College Football Playoff picture.

With that loss, the Bulldogs fell 9 spots in the AP top 25 rankings this week, to No. 11 after entering last weekend’s game with the No. 2 position.

Tennessee is 5-1 in SEC play and would take a massive step forward towards a berth in the SEC Championship Game and playoff consideration with a win against the Bulldogs.

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