JT Daniels still isn’t fully cleared for Georgia football

Quarterback JT Daniels still hasn’t been fully cleared by Georgia football.

Georgia football fans may be excited to hear about JT Daniels battling it out at the Bulldogs’ scrimmage on Saturday, but head coach Kirby Smart wants to clear up any misconceptions.

“JT is not cleared still,” Smart told reporters after the scrimmage. “You all think he’s cleared or what you think of is cleared. Cleared to me is, I can go out and play a full game of tackle football. He gets to scrimmage but he wouldn’t be cleared for a game in terms of contact yet.”

Daniels has a few weeks to get fully cleared for action ahead of Georgia’s Sept. 26 start date. He’s almost a year removed from the season-ending ACL injury that ended his time as USC football’s starter in 2019. However, his chances of winning the starting job are still tied to his comeback from that injury.

“That factors into that decision,” Smart said.

JT Daniels has to prove he’s ready for a return with Georgia football.

Confidence is half the battle for a quarterback. For Daniels, confidence was at the center of his struggles with USC in 2018. Once rattled by the opposing pass rush, his decision-making went downhill.

Any quarterback who is coming off a season-ending injury may need some time to rebuild his confidence, restoring the ability to stand in and take a hit.

Smart’s comments are particularly interesting as they relate to Daniels’ skill-set. He was not the most mobile quarterback to begin with, but he will need to prove he can still get around somewhat on a surgically repaired knee.

That’s an area some of Georgia’s other quarterbacks were always going to have him beat.

“The other guys, what they can do with their feet. Sometimes that’s a tough measurement at quarterback unless you go live with those guys,” Smart said.

With that in mind, Daniels will have to wow the Georgia coaching staff enough with his arm to outweigh any worries they may have over his return from injury or any preferences for a run threat at quarterback.