QB Murray returns to practice; throws ball ‘extremely well,’ Richt says
(Updated 8:45 p.m.)
As Georgia’s football team resumed preparations Monday for its regular-season finale against Georgia Tech, quarterback Aaron Murray returned to the practice field for the first time since suffering knee and sternum injuries against Auburn.
Coach Mark Richt said on his radio call-in show Monday night that Murray threw the ball “extremely well,” although Richt cautioned that practice conditions are quite different from game conditions for Georgia quarterbacks.
“Aaron is doing well,” Richt said. “He got to practice today. He went through the whole thing. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s ready to play [under game conditions]. But because we don’t hit our quarterbacks in practice, he was able to do everything we asked him to do. I’m not sure how he would have handled getting hit and tackled to the ground and having the full weight of one or two guys land on him. I don’t know how he’d do in that situation right now.
“But he does feel a lot better. He threw the ball extremely well. If he keeps getting better — like he said today, ‘Coach, I got five more days.’ I hope by the end of the week he’ll feel good enough to go.”
The Georgia-Georgia Tech game kicks off at 7:45 p.m. Saturday in Sanford Stadium.
Murray “wants to play, there’s no doubt about that,” Richt said.
The redshirt freshman quarterback suffered a bruised sternum and a bruised knee in the Bulldogs’ Nov. 13 loss at Auburn. He was held out of practice last week, when Georgia had an open date.
“[Murray] looked pretty good,” tailback Washaun Ealey said after Monday’s practice. “He came out a little edgy today, but he got all that worked out. He looked good toward the end of practice. You could tell he was real banged up, but he’s fighting through it. He’s a tough competitor. He knows we’re all counting on him to come through, so he’s out there trying to grind every day to get the job done.”
Ealey added: “I’m pretty sure he’ll play Saturday.”
– AJC correspondent Andy Johnston contributed to this blog.
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354 comments Add your comment
Coffee Bluff DAWG
November 22nd, 2010
9:52 pm
I think I like the funny Marcus better than the Mr Football Marcus.
Marcus
November 22nd, 2010
9:53 pm
Ealey averages 6 yards a carry in the 4th quarter, and Murray averages -2 yards a carry in the 4th quarter. Good thing Murray’s calling plays for himself to run the ball in the 4th quarter, who needs teammates and playmakers on your team when you’re Superman?
GoForTwo
November 22nd, 2010
9:53 pm
Marcus is probably a 13 year old enjoying his writings.
dawg nation
November 22nd, 2010
9:53 pm
Dawgs by three touchdown Sat night in Athens!!!!!
Coffee Bluff DAWG
November 22nd, 2010
9:54 pm
Marcus should try out for the football team.
Marcus
November 22nd, 2010
9:57 pm
I hate it when my mom makes me clean my room…
Marcus
November 22nd, 2010
9:58 pm
Kellen Moore and Murray have 71 in common.
Moore’s 71% accurate against winning Div 1 teams.
Murray’s ranked 71st against the same.
Marcus
November 22nd, 2010
10:00 pm
I have seen every Star Trek episode 71 times…
Coffee Bluff DAWG
November 22nd, 2010
10:02 pm
Marcus & Kellen Moore have 71 in common.
Kellen Moore has a 71 accuracy rating and Marcus has a 71 IQ.
bgdawg
November 22nd, 2010
10:03 pm
marcus shut the hell up dude. you have no clue in hell what your talking about you’re not a real dawg fan obviously because you’re trashing our starting qb for no reason whatsoever
lakerga
November 22nd, 2010
10:08 pm
Everyones fogetting after first hit on Murray its the Hutson Mason show. Maybe the change will be good for the Dogs.
Marcus Rectum
November 22nd, 2010
10:09 pm
Marcus is a D bag that is probably a tech fan or road in the short peeing on himself.
Marcus
November 22nd, 2010
10:12 pm
I finally figured out what Murray’s #11 stands for.
He’s ranked #11 in the SEC in passing acxcuracy on 3rd down, 4th quarter, and in the red zone.
And Georgia’s 5-6 record is 11th best in the SEC.
VA DAWG
November 22nd, 2010
10:13 pm
Marcus did Murray steal your girlfriend or something? Why such the hard-on for Murray??? He is the quarterback for UGA. Were you captain of the audio-visual team in high school?
Marcus D Rectum
November 22nd, 2010
10:14 pm
I love reading these posts and just laughing at morons like “Marcus” who obviously don’t know crap and find satisfaction posting to get a rise out of people! UGA has had a tough year, but tech sucks way worse; it should be 42 – 21 at best. Marcus should just go through the airport and deny the scanner so people can touch his junk, because that’s about all the action he probably gets
Marcus D Rectum
November 22nd, 2010
10:18 pm
I finally figured out what Marcus stands for: Malcontent A**hole Regurgitating Useless Shi*
Ga Dawg 97
November 22nd, 2010
10:20 pm
I smell a little caesars bowl!
Stinger
November 22nd, 2010
10:21 pm
Murray goes down hard against Jackets and will not return. Sorry little doggies, Jackets 51 UGAY 3.
Stinger
November 22nd, 2010
10:22 pm
YOu thought Shreveport was bad. How about no bowl??????? LMFAO
Alpharetta Dan
November 22nd, 2010
10:22 pm
Marcus does have a point. Murray has been throwing to the best receiver in college football and we are 5-6. Plus he has choked in the biggest situations of the year. Just sayin. Maybe LeMay will be the real deal.
jeremy
November 22nd, 2010
10:24 pm
marcus
check out murray’s stats from CFBstats.com and you can break it down by wins losses everything. If you look at total offense Murray doesn’t drop below 6th in the conference for anything. So unless you got a source for stuff leave it alone.
http://www.cfbstats.com/2010/leader/911/player/split01/category10/sort01.html
SuperDawg
November 22nd, 2010
10:24 pm
I was extremely happy to go to Shrevport last year, but I lost my Double Wide this year to foreclosure. I guess it’s a good thing we won’t be going bowling this year. The Techies are too much for us this year.
Buckeye Chris
November 22nd, 2010
10:25 pm
Georgia-Georgia Tech – a completly meaningless game to anyone outside the redneck state of Georgia.
Stinger
November 22nd, 2010
10:25 pm
SuperDawg, looks like you have matured a little from last year.
Coffee Bluff DAWG
November 22nd, 2010
10:27 pm
Alpharetta,
This isn’t pitch and catch – it’s SEC Football and UGA hasn’t gotten it done this year as a team. Next thing you’ll say is that Murray choked on D.
Raheem Morris
November 22nd, 2010
10:27 pm
jeremy, but doesn’t it really come down to wins and losses? Stats are for losers. I believe murray is 5-6 and what is his biggest win?
Todd Grantham
November 22nd, 2010
10:31 pm
You guys know I was really giving the choke sign to Murray at the end of the Florida game, right?
Todd Grantham
November 22nd, 2010
10:33 pm
Little snot nosed choking frat boy…
Mark Richt
November 22nd, 2010
10:35 pm
If we beat Tech, we might get an invite to the Little Caesars Bowl on December 26th!!! I’m pumped up about that. Murray is taking us to uncharted heights. No pun intended.
Bib Bad Bob
November 22nd, 2010
10:59 pm
Whoever this Marcus idiot is, shows that he knows absolutely nothing about Aaron Murray. Murray just happens to have 21 TD passes, over 2,500 yards passing, 4 TDs rushing and only 6 interceptions for the whole season. Does Tech even have a QB that has completed 21 passes the whole season?
Josh Nesbutt
November 22nd, 2010
11:03 pm
My farts smell really bad.
billyboy
November 22nd, 2010
11:15 pm
Tech wins by 13 this year. Boise State beats the doggies by 10 next year. 2 years in a row and no bowl for the little doggies. Maybe we can find a few doggie treats like Vanderbilt.
jeremy
November 22nd, 2010
11:33 pm
raheem
wins and losses are what it does add up to but Murray can’t play every postion. bottom line he is putting the team in a position to win offensively, except for the SC game and Bobo took the hit on that one with his playcalling.
DAWG
November 22nd, 2010
11:51 pm
Marcus, you are such an expert….why don’t you be our QB?? You get hit by Fairley…ok little boy.
bgdawg
November 23rd, 2010
12:29 am
2-3 losses are basically on ealey’s head because of fumbles. one game necause of murray’s picks. one game on king because of colorado.
bigdsel
November 23rd, 2010
12:40 am
Uga just had a bad season, UGA lost a lot of close games. last year how many teams scored over 40+ point on our d. This year it was only Auburn. Our offense hasn’t played up to par. They score points, just sometimes not enough. Hopefully our luck changes next year, And we develope a better run game. UGA is Great, When we run the ball great. Throwing was just a perk.
Gdawg
November 23rd, 2010
12:50 am
@marcus did you watch the Tennesee and vandy games, and aaron murry’s leading a team that has the most average pints 30 a game. and has more throwing yards then matt stafford and david green. He also have 2,000+ yards offense without his 1 reciever for four games. so dude just shut the hell up
Deepdiver
November 23rd, 2010
1:14 am
Georgia is either going to the toilet bowl or no bowl. This game will suck!
superDawg
November 23rd, 2010
1:31 am
stinger you have’nt matured since first grade.
Marcus is an IDIOT!
November 23rd, 2010
1:39 am
Hey marcus what has mason done with the reps he’s got? i believe only 1 touchdown and he has played plenty of snaps to be able do better. heck if it wasnt for murray we probably wouldnt be 5-6 moron. He extends plays, has a great arm and is actually very accurate. He ranks 3rd in the entire SEC behind only Cam Newton and Ryan Mallet. So shut the hell up and go back to techland.
DawgInDFW
November 23rd, 2010
2:25 am
I’d be surprised if anyone is still reading comments at this point, what with Marcus posting 9 of every 10 posts (and sometimes changing his name), but I’ve got to respond…
I’ve watched virtually every play of every game this season. Murray is very good. He’s not perfect, but he’s good. So here’s my “evaluation” of our W/L record with special reference to Murray’s play:
Games We Lost On Murray’s Mistakes: 1
He came out and played tight against Florida in the first quarter. We squandered scoring chances while they were figuring out how to run their offense and the eventually jumped out to a 21-7 lead. That cost us the game. (Yes, he threw the *tipped* interception in OT while being hurried…not really his fault. Bottom Line: We lost that game in the first quarter because the first play was an interception — on a play that shouldn’t have been called until the 3rd quarter after we’d lulled them to sleep.)
Games We Would Have Lost BAD If Murray Was No Good: 5
The SC and Ark. losses came from coaches trying to rely on the run when it wasn’t there, mainly fearful of turning Murray loose. If they let him run and sling the ball, we probably beat SC and for sure beat Arky. Miss St. was just a bad outing by a team on the snide…Colorado, doubly so. In the first 3, AJ didn’t play. Against CO, he cramped from altitude and lack of game time. In those situations, Murray’s best target (and decoy) isn’t even on the field. SC, Arky and MSU essentially loaded up the box and dared us to run, which we did to no great effect since our line was still far from gelling at that point. We lost to #2 Auburn, a team who puts up big points on everyone they play. We were in it for a while even though we eventually gave up 49 points. We didn’t score enough points, but 30+ is usually enough to beat somebody.
Games We Don’t Win If Murray is No Good: 1
We “barely” beat 6-5 Kentucky because their offense is outstanding. If Derrick Locke isn’t hurt, we lose. If they don’t turn it over 4 times, we lose. But, we put up 44 points on them, so we win. Murray was not the reason it was “close” (44-31 is close?). He’s the reason we WON.
This whole idea that Murray is the problem is simply not borne out by the facts. I honestly can’t believe I’m having to argue this point.
Frankly, Aaron Murray looked poised against SC and Arky, he loosened up and eventually played well against Florida when he was obviously AMPED in the 1st Qtr., and he played one heck of a game against a great Auburn team. MSU: We were reeling from back to back losses. Colorado: No excuse. That game SUCKED.
SO…I have to ask: Marcus, are you just an idiot or the president of the Hutson Mason fan club? Mason is a great athlete and seems like a good kid, but this is really moronic suggesting that Mason would play at a much higher level without even a full year learning the offense.
Aaron Murray will be the quarterback of this team next year. He’s a FINE QB. And, in closing let me say: I still trust Mark Richt’s ability to evaluate a quarterback more than I trust some goober on the AJC blogs. Good day to you.
Jen
November 23rd, 2010
3:47 am
GT < Idaho St.
Big time?? Not
November 23rd, 2010
6:19 am
Four tickets, four hot dogs, four cokes
Dawgs Friend
November 23rd, 2010
6:21 am
I like Murray. He has a rifle arm and throws bullets.
As far standing in the pocket, its better than running
around and losing sight of open receivers. Yes, he has made some mistakes as a freshman but he will make up for these by helping UGA win a lot of games in the future.
11 Arrests 5 Wins
November 23rd, 2010
7:08 am
Will he be wearing his dress Saturday? And the Tech defense has to count to 10 before leaving the line of scrimmage….cry babies!
A Murray
November 23rd, 2010
7:09 am
I’m just another over rated and over hyped GA playuh. Who have I beaten?
Dawg-Hatin' Jacket
November 23rd, 2010
7:18 am
THWG
SEC Choking Hazard
November 23rd, 2010
7:25 am
” EXTREMELY WELL ” does not make up for a sorry 5-6 record.
Nick Fairley
November 23rd, 2010
7:49 am
Dont Worry Aaron. I will be in the NFL making my millions next year. You wont have to fake an injury before the AU-UGA game.
Marcus
November 23rd, 2010
8:50 am
I would like to invite everyone to my birthday party next month, I will be 12 then.