QB Murray’s injury diagnosed: ‘just a little sprain,’ he says

(Updated 7:20 p.m.)

Bulldog Nation received a major scare Monday when word spread that Aaron Murray, Georgia’s starting quarterback, was spotted on campus on crutches. Before long, rumors snowballed of a possible broken leg or ankle.

Turns out, Murray had only sprained his right ankle and should be able to participate in spring football practice next month, UGA announced late Monday afternoon.

The injury occurred during a pick-up soccer game on campus on Saturday.

Murray was examined by team physicians, and X-rays were negative. An MRI on Monday afternoon confirmed the sprain diagnosis, UGA said.

“Thanks for all the prayers and concerns,” Murray said via Twitter, “but it’s just a little sprain and I’ll be up and going in no time.”

According to Georgia director of sports medicine Ron Courson, Murray will rehab the ankle under the supervision of the sports medicine staff and is expected to be available for spring practice, which starts March 10.

If the ankle isn’t fully healed by then, Murray could benefit from an unusual schedule that has 11 off days between the Bulldogs’ first and second sessions of spring practice. The second practice is on March 22, following UGA’s spring break. Spring practice runs until April 16, when the annual G-Day intra-squad game will be played in Sanford Stadium.

Murray was one of the few bright spots in a 2010 season that saw Georgia post its first losing record (6-7) in 14 years.

Starting all 13 games as a redshirt freshman, he passed for 3,049 yards, the second most by a freshman in SEC history, and 24 touchdowns, tied for the second most by any player in UGA history. His pass efficiency rating of 154.48 ranked No. 14 nationally, No. 1 among freshmen.

Georgia has two other scholarship quarterbacks in its program: rising sophomore Hutson Mason, who played sparingly as Murray’s backup last season, and freshman Christian LeMay, who enrolled last month.

– Tim Tucker, UGA Blog