Georgia’s leading wide receiver, graduate transfer Lawrence Cager, has been playing with a “bad” shoulder along with a rib injury for several weeks now. He’s only missed one game on the season so far, Kentucky on October 19th, but he did come out of the Missouri game having aggravated his shoulder after hauling in six catches for 93 yards and did not return.
But Cager has been practicing this week per Kirby Smart and it looks like he’ll travel with the team and play versus Auburn this weekend.
“He’s good. He’s taking all his reps, catching balls, doing what he’s supposed to do,” said Kirby during Tuesday’s post-practice press conference. “Hopefully, we can keep him healthy.”
And that just speaks to Cager’s toughness and competitiveness as a player.
“He’s very tough. He’s playing with a tough injury to deal with, but it’s his choice. Once the doctors clear him he has to make a choice if he wants to play or not and, absolutely, he wants to play. I mean, he’s a competitor. That’s why he came here,” said Kirby.
“The last thing he wants to do is say, ‘well, I’m going to take this week off and not play in this game and heal up.’ That’s not his perspective, ’cause he knows that every game matters and that it matters to our team,” added Kirby. “He’s a team player; he’s a competitor; he wants to go out and make plays. He wants to do that for the brothers on his team. He’s not going to step away, unless he has a chance to injure himself worse, and that’s a medical decision.”
Cager has combined for 12 catches for 214 yards and two touchdowns against Notre Dame and Florida, who were both ranked in the top-10 when Georgia faced them. What has helped Cager perform on the “big stage” for the Dawgs in those games?
“Just maturity. He’s very mature. He’s older. He’s been around. He’s played in big games at Miami; so, maturity is the biggest thing,” said Kirby. “The moment is not too big for him. He’s not one of these guys that gets overwhelmed with playing on a big stage.”
With another “big game” on Saturday for the Dawgs, and with an opportunity to play in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, Cager’s teammates can count on him to do everything in his power to play.