UPDATE: UGA TB Isaiah Crowell ‘day-to-day’ with groin injury

Georgia freshman tailback Isaiah Crowell stands next to coach Bryan McClendon as he sits out "The Chute" drill due to a gimpy left leg. (Photo provided by Guy Prokay/dawgtime.com)

Georgia freshman tailback Isaiah Crowell stands next to coach Bryan McClendon as he sits out "The Chute" drill due to a gimpy left leg. (Photo provided by Guy Prokay/dawgtime.com)

***UPDATED***

ATHENS — Georgia freshman tailback Isaiah Crowell is battling a groin injury that severely limited his participation in Friday’s practice, the Bulldogs’ 10th of preseason camp.

However, both Crowell and UGA head coach Mark Richt insist that the injury is not serious and should not significantly hamper Crowell’s preparation for the No. 22-ranked Bulldogs’ season opener against No. 7 Boise State in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome in three weeks.

“It’s not really that serious,” said Crowell, speaking to reporters Friday for the first time since arriving at UGA. “It was just weak or whatever, but it’s not serious.”

Crowell was not dressed in a green jersey, which signifies an injured player. However, he moved slowly and gingerly through the Bulldogs’ drill work early in practice and actually stood to the side for several of them. Occasionally he would limp noticeably and his left thigh was heavily wrapped in an ace bandage underneath his pants. See THIS VIDEO posted by our friends at DawgTime.com,

“It’s a groin that’s bothering him,” Richt said. “We don’t think there was a pull. But if you get enough practices in a row and going live and all that stuff, sometimes you wake up in the morning and you just can’t go full speed. So that’s what happened with him. We shut him down today. It’ll be day-by-day. We’ll see how he feels.”

Given the Bulldogs’ precarious situation at tailback, any injury at that position could be perceived as cause for alarm. Redshirt freshman Ken “Boo” Malcome, who was already hampered with a groin injury, did not attend Friday’s practice because “he’s not feeling too good,” Richt said. Richt was not specific other than to say it was “not a concussion.”

Meanwhile, former walkon tailback Brandon Harton — he was just awarded a scholarship Thursday night — just returned from a real concussion and remained in green on Friday. That left the Bulldogs with recently-converted tailback Richard Samuel and Carlton Thomas, who is suspended for the opening game.

For what it’s worth, Thomas had “a really nice day of competition” and Samuel had the run of the day in Friday’s full-contact workout.

“It was the first play of [teamwork] and he ran over a cornerback and kept on trucking for about another 30 yards or so,” Richt said. “That was a big run for him.”

Later it was learned that Samuel suffered a strained quad during the practice and he, too, is listed as “day-to-day.”

Meanwhile, the buzz of the day Friday was it was the first opportunity for reporters to interview Crowell since he’s been on UGA’s campus. As was consistent of his personality throughout recruiting, Crowell was a man of few words but also of quiet confidence. He actually addressed the fact that he’s not one ramble on with his answers.

“I don’t like speaking but I know I have to,” he said while sitting on a stool in a scrum of reporters and TV cameras.

Some of the “highlights” from Crowell’s 15-minutes session with the media:

  • On the thrust of attention: “I think I’ve handled it well. I don’t let it get to me. I try to keep a level head. That’s what I do.”
  • On his goals for the season: “I just want to get out on the field and help my team win. That’s the main thing for me.”
  • His favorite moment so far: “Being out there practicing and the scrimmage at Sanford Stadium.”
  • Not really. I just want to do whatever God wants me to do. I don’t really look at it like that (referencing question about Latt and Dyer).
  • Biggest adjustment: “Really the hardest thing for me has been like time management and waking up early. I’m not a morning person and that has been the hardest thing for me. Physically it hasn’t been that hard for me. I feel like I fit right in.”
  • Does he feel weight of expections: “No sir. I don’t really think about it a lot. My coach is always telling me I’m not the savior. I’m just coming out here and working hard and trying to help my team.”
  • On influence of strength coach Thomas Brown: “He’s helped me work out and has kept me motivated with the different things we’re doing and he’s helped me learn the ins and out of Athens.”
  • On advice he got from Herschel Walker: “He was telling me to keep a level head and work hard and help my team work hard and do whatever I could to help my team.”
  • On notoriety around campus: “I get recognized a little. I try to not stay out too much because I know people might know who I am. That’s the main thing. I try to stay [cordoned] off.”
  • On who has delivered the biggest hit on him. “No one has really hit me that hard. Not yet I don’t think.”
  • Whether he can have similar impact as Marcus Lattimore last year: “I think I can. I think Lattimore had a great season last year. He helped his team a lot. I think I can do the same.”
  • On being heavily counted on: “I expected to play and everybody to look up to me. I knew I had to be a leader and work hard for everybody to follow me. I expected that.”
  • On the grind of preseason camp: “It’s a lot of work and it’s tiring and it’s hard. But I love football and I’ve been doing this all my life, so it’s fun to me.”
  • How much of playbook he’s mastered: “Like 90 percent. I know most of what I’m doing. I’ve just got to learn a few more things in there and I’ll be set.”
  • On rumors he showed up out of shape with bad attitude: “I heard all that but there’s wasn’t nothing to it. People are going to say what they want to say.”

359 comments Add your comment

GET DOWN BIG MAN

August 12th, 2011
4:30 pm

Football Insider

WOW… You are so informative there insider –and such a positive attitude (winkwink)

RedandBlackDAWG

August 12th, 2011
4:30 pm

Tampa Gator,

You could win two championships in the next four years. Please my friend, post a mailbox where we can send in the bets, to go against that statement. You can not be serious.
I have heard of being over confident, but you take it to new limits there my boy. You must learn to not start drinking that cheap wine in the morning. Ripple will tear you up.

Dewayne

August 12th, 2011
4:31 pm

How about stretch before practicing? Shouldn’t be that many problems with hamstrings and groins. Please drink some water also!!!!

GET DOWN BIG MAN

August 12th, 2011
4:32 pm

moleman

Just glad to know you DO have a pupose (in life). YOU have truely made it — your parents would be proud.

Bulldogs have too many Bong Smoking Fans

August 12th, 2011
4:32 pm

CHDawg

Glad you can spell

Could you help me count how many National Titles and SEC championships in the last 20 yrs we have. Heck add the times we appeared in the SEC championship game too while your at it for me.

Also count how many times we beat UGA too

Im not able to count either, I could really use your help

CHDawg

August 12th, 2011
4:33 pm

MS Bully, I disagree. Georgia starts with one of, if not the toughest, schedules in the nation. Also, I think the pundits are wrong about the SEC East. I think it will be very, very strong. UF is a real sleeper. Mark my words, they will be back. They start with an easy ramp up and then comes Bama. I think they stand a very good chance of beating Bama. They will have a great D, and I expect Weiss to figure out how to use all of that talent on O. They are our biggest challenge, but SC should be very strong, too, and could win the East, too. The SEC East will be a very tough town this year.

CHDawg

August 12th, 2011
4:35 pm

Bong, UF has a great program, perhaps the strongest for the last twenty years or so. Unfortunately for you, you don’t represent them in any way. Unless being obnoxious and communicating poorly are Gator traits I don’t know about.

Markt Wrecked

August 12th, 2011
4:48 pm

Bartender, another round of Koolaid for all these homers. Put it on my tab as usual. Keep those hallucinations happening…

moleman

August 12th, 2011
4:55 pm

sorry fellas, gotta go. mom is making me cut the grass before band practice. sorry if some of you take my posts seriously. just rattlin your cages as the great dale earnhardt, sr. would say. no ill will towards uga or its fans, just pokin fun. i am a smart mouth; i admit that. but you must admit, you have some lulu’s posting the pro-uga stance. i’m sure there are those who hate my posts (obviously, read page 6 of the blog), but there are also those who get a laugh out of my posts. either way, it’s all in fun. football in 3 weeks. and thats a good thing. think we can all agree on that.

JAWJeRDAWG

August 12th, 2011
5:00 pm

And now the AJC is reporting that Richard Samuel has strained his left quadricep. Gotta get our RB’s wheels steadied soon!

Hope Isaiah, Richard, and Boo heal quickly. .. Go Dawgs!

Bulldogs have too many Bong Smoking Fans

August 12th, 2011
5:04 pm

CHDawg

You forgot to add FL beating the crap out of UGA every year as a trait

CDAWG

August 12th, 2011
5:07 pm

I really enjoy reading good posts and analysis from Dawg fans and opposing fans as well but it is obvious there are people on here just trying to agitate the Dawg fans. The Dawgs may or may not beat Boise, the Dawgs may or may not win the SEC East, the Dawgs may or may not win the NC but for all you trolls, we support our team and are really looking forward to the season, isn’t that what we are supposed to do? What I think is you trolls are worried about us and for good reason. The DAWGS are fired up this year and have an mean nasty attitude to go with it.

LHarding Dawg

August 12th, 2011
5:08 pm

I got my Florida and Boise tickets in the mail today. I came right in, got on the computer, and reserved rooms in Jacksonville. This Bulldog is ready to roll.

Mikey

August 12th, 2011
5:13 pm

Well so much for that new strength and conditioning program. Dropping like flies due to the heat and nagging hamstrings. Atta boy Joe. Nice job

Bulldogs have too many Bong Smoking Fans

August 12th, 2011
5:20 pm

CDAWG

Supporting your team is one thing. Supporting mediocrity from a program that could easily be better is stupid.

True fans like most FL fans know what the program can be and will not except mediocrity from coaches making the salaries they do today.

Let FL lose to UGA 2 times and not appear in an SEC championship the next 3 years and Muschamp will be packing his bags for the unemployment line

You guys win 10 games and thats good enough to sign a coach to a multi-year contract. Thats like being stuck in the mud with a car thats running just fine but your going nowhere.

ol ' seadawg

August 12th, 2011
5:34 pm

No, I’m no expert, but I am a Veteran and people still suffered various muscle pulls even when they did stretch, it just happens. I just hope and pray that Samuel rips off some good runs and show these trolling a$#%!les something! I’m so sick of em’ Get it through your frickin thick skulls that true dawg fans don’t care what you think of our team and no matter what we’ll support them ! Always have Always will ! Call me a kool aid drinker if you want, just make it lemonade for my kidney stones, but be sure you come back on,when the Big Dawgs go all the way ! I say we’re gonna stomp a mud hole in some Smurf a$$ and kick it dry !!!

Get Real

August 12th, 2011
5:37 pm

When is the last time UGA won a championship? When is the last time UF won a championship? When is the last time UT won a championship? When is the last time Auburn won a championship? When is the last time LSU won a championship? And here’s the kicker, when is the last time GT won a championship? ALL of them since the 1980 champs at UGA, which you people still think entitles you. 31 years! And it ain’t gonna happen this year either!!!

Caleb King

August 12th, 2011
5:47 pm

Miss me yet?

ol ' seadawg

August 12th, 2011
5:49 pm

hey Get Real , GET OFF !! How many years was it before Florida even won a SEC title ? Think real hard now, but I believe it was probably around fifty years or so! Did true Florida fans give up? How about Cub fans ? Cleveland Indian fans ? Falcon Fans ? Point is, what the heck is it to you? Are we taking money out of your pocket? If we want to be delusional, let us, but the worm will turn my friend eventually, and all of us, will right here, talking smack, and how GOOD it is to be a DAWG, just like ANY other true fan, would do.

Ray Goff

August 12th, 2011
5:49 pm

Miss me yet?

Bulldogs have too many Bong Smoking Fans

August 12th, 2011
5:50 pm

ol ‘ seadawg

Glad to know UGA has so many fans like you. That means as long as UT is down we are a shoe in 95% of the time for the SEC championship game EVERY YEAR

Whats your address, I want to send you and CH DAWG and the other TROLL whiners a party tray while you enjoy watching champions play for SEC conference titles.

P.S what color kool-aid do you like, I’ll send you some LOL!!!!

david

August 12th, 2011
5:52 pm

how can texas tech join the sec when it is not in the SOUTHEAST

The Professor

August 12th, 2011
5:56 pm

Are they going to start Crowell on the tough academics immediately? I mean… like… uh… you know… READING.

I would think that would be essential for his Consumer Economics degree.

Bob

August 12th, 2011
5:56 pm

Please get well soon Isaiah! I’m thinking that Boo’s “groin” injury is between his ears. Maybe it’s past time for Richt to cut some of these perennial goldbricks lose. He’s always hurt.

Banneker

August 12th, 2011
6:01 pm

Boise State and USC are licking their chops right now.

Too many UGAyers drinking way too much Kool-Aid as always.

Carlton Thomas

August 12th, 2011
6:09 pm

I am rested and ready.

Bob

August 12th, 2011
6:14 pm

Memo to Coach Richt (and his replacement next year): If a potential recruit is injured and has been since his junior year, please pass. Stop wasting our money on malcontents and goldbricks. Thank you.

TampaGator

August 12th, 2011
6:29 pm

RedandBlackDawg…..

Where did I say that? Can you read….or you just make assumptions as you read…..note to you: making assumptions can do what….make an a… out of you….and it has.

That quote was from a Georgia fan……P.S. Florida has already won NC 2 out of 4 years. Florida will be right back in the NC hunt next year under Muschamp. He has outstanding young talent already in Gainesville and will fight with Texas and FSU for the very top recruiting class in the country this year. Have you checked to see all of the top talent that has already committed to the Gators….and the numbers of top recruits that have Florida in there top 5. You are blind if you don’t understand what is going on in Gainesville under Muschamp. He is an exceptional motivator, the players just love him already, he is a great recruiter, has assembled a terrific coaching staff, and has some of the best facilitities and fan support (emotional and financial) in the country. Yes….Florida will be fighting the NC titles next year and several years after that…….

LHarding Dawg

August 12th, 2011
6:47 pm

Tampa – You might better slow down and not put the cart before the horse (or in your case gator). I am hoping Muschamp will be a fine coach ( except against Georgia), but right now, it’s way to early to tell. I usually brag after the games, I learned that by coaching kids who like to talk too much. He may end up being the Florida Ray Goff.

Bong – You’re just full of hot air. Probably just a child who knows how to type on a computer.

ugakev

August 12th, 2011
6:55 pm

Bulldogs have too many bong smoking fans, Florida fans wouldnt put up with a coach like that or mediocrity? Lmao!!!!!!!! What the hell do you callthe times before spurrier?

Maconbulldog

August 12th, 2011
7:10 pm

Man the Gators are going to be looking good this year with their power back and new offense they will be running. Nobody is going to stop that head Coach that has won…. what has Will won since he has been there with the Gators???????????????

Delbert D.

August 12th, 2011
7:24 pm

With Knile Davis out for the season, that will be a factor in who wins the SEC East.

Conspiracy Theorist

August 12th, 2011
7:35 pm

Consider this……Crowell is not hurt at all, It’s just gamesmanship.

Boise loses by 2 TDS. Walk in the park.

TampaGator

August 12th, 2011
8:21 pm

MaconDawg….

The power back, when the Gators need one, will be Trey Burton….you remember his from last year….the 225 lb. dude that outran your entire secondary, right? Well, he is 235 lbs now and just as fast and playing FB, H-B, “Power tailback”, and also plays in the slot in 5 WR sets. Any questions now?

Muschamp has not coached as a HC yet…..but he sure has managed his team and his organization well since arriving in Gainesville……and that reflects what I expect will happen on Saturday afternoons and evenings this year.

Now….back to your dreams!

TampaGator

August 12th, 2011
8:24 pm

LHardingDawg…..

There is nothing similar to Ray Goff in anything Will Muschamp does, says, or thinks. Comparing him to Goff if like comparing a VW bus to a Mercadez Benz truck.

TampaGator

August 12th, 2011
8:25 pm

Again….sorry for the typing errors.

TampaGator

August 12th, 2011
8:26 pm

Anyway…..enough about that. How about the Falcons……17-0 in the first…..go Julio. I am watching the Bucs tonight in Tampa. They think they are better than the Falcons….we will see.

bird dawg

August 12th, 2011
8:30 pm

i”m from south ga. been a ga. fan for year’s. ic said he is the man. he expected to play. he expected every body to look up to him. he is in the sec now. no high school. he might be seeing some sec linebacker’s looking down on him with his back on the ground. hope not.

Maconbulldog

August 12th, 2011
8:54 pm

@TampaGator.

Well Sir I never thought I would ever get your attention……was not trying but since the Gator is out and about……yes I do indeed sir have a question would Chris Rainey or Demps be running the ball????

bitter Larry Munson

August 12th, 2011
8:56 pm

lissen trolls —stop worring about these small injuries—-my sources tell me–us—that boise st

———-QB had a nother great practice —he throw a wopping 92% completion rate today

—————————————-just saying—-its all about gratham and the “D”———–

——————————-murry cant stop there senior QB—maybe the best in collage ball

Saint Peter vs. Saint Mark

August 12th, 2011
9:40 pm

After Mark Richt dies and enters the Pearly Gates, God takes him on a tour. He shows Mark a little two-bedroom house with a faded Georgia banner hanging from the front porch. “This is your house, coach. Most people don’t get their own houses up here,” God says. Coach Richt looks at the house, then turns around and looks at the one sitting on top of the hill. It’s a huge two-story mansion with white marble columns and little patios under all the windows. GT flags line both sides of the sidewalk and a huge Yellow Jacket banner hangs between the marble columns. “Thanks for the house, God. But let me ask you a question. I get this little two-bedroom house with a faded banner and Paul Johnson gets a mansion with GT banners and flags flying all over the place. Why is that?” God looks at him seriously for a moment. “That’s not Johnson’s house,” God says. “That’s mine.”

Hope and Change... how'd that work out for you?

August 12th, 2011
9:46 pm

Please read the last “bitter Larry Munson” post to understand the incomparable illiteracy of many UGA fans.

And Obama voters. Sorry, that was too nasty even for UGA fans.

Ryan H

August 12th, 2011
9:50 pm

Hey Bluturf—Ask the last Boise Smurf Star QB how well he faired against the junk yard dawg d-fense…I stopped counting interceptions at 4 in the first half…

Lowcountry Bulldawg

August 12th, 2011
10:09 pm

You give me a place to met you and a time and you got it. You wanna talk the talk lets see if you walk the walk. You think you can talk about someones family with no repercussions then you got another thing coming. I am finished with these blogs but let me telly you one thing if I find out who you are I promise you I will whip your arse. Send me your email and lets make it happen….

PowerDawg

August 12th, 2011
10:15 pm

For all you self-described orthopaedic doctors out there, Malcome does not have a “hammie”. He has a pulled groin muscle. While a groin injury can adversely affect one or both legs, hence the ace wrapped thigh, it is not the same thing. Regardless of the severity of the injury, it is an entirely different muscle than the hamstring.
They are both painful injuries and require 7-10 days at least for the inflammation to go down enough that the muscle can be flexed with little or no discomfort. Pulls are bad, but they are much less severe than an actual tear of the muscle. Those can take the athlete weeks, even months to recover from and surgery is sometimes needed if it’s bad enough.

Boo may have something else going on. His groin muscle shouldn’t still be bothering him for this long(since spring). I can’t believe that Courson and his crew couldn’t have gotten him well by now if it was just a severe strain. As for Isaiah,if he and Richt say it’s not serious, I believe them and everyone should relax a little. Good news or bad, Richt is going to be truthful with us, I know that. There’s still almost three full weeks to go before the duel at the Dome.

Don’t know about Malcome, but Crowell will be ready I feel sure.

LogicalUS

August 12th, 2011
10:18 pm

Hate to point this out, but the injuries to Crowell and to Samuels are devastating at this point because neither of these two players can afford to miss a singe rep at practice.

They are already behind the 8-ball with experience now each is going to be limited for at least 5 practices which mean they are just going to be that much further behind come Sept 3. If either were Jr. or Sr. then a day or two of missed reps would be nothing, but both of these kids must have every rep that they can get.

What this may lead to is that UGA will have to go vanilla in its pass protections for the Boise\SC games or perhaps keep their TE in more often to protect Murray. That would have a drasttic impact on their offensive production for those games.

Dawg in Milton

August 12th, 2011
10:22 pm

pack Crowell in ICE till Boise St…UGA NATIONAL CHAMPS 2011

superDawg

August 12th, 2011
10:42 pm

I like it bring him indoors and stretch him out.SC and spurrier your ass belongs to the GEORGIA BULLDOGS!NUFF SAID.

Lowcountry Bulldawg

August 12th, 2011
10:46 pm

Kerryb

August 12th, 2011
11:36 pm

How is Kellin Moore going to throw when he’s pulling his behind up off the green turf?