Earnest Greene III admits his season did not go the way he planned.
Although he made no excuses, various injuries plagued his second campaign as a starting member of Georgia’s offensive line.
Among the ailments, an injured shoulder proved difficult to manage, ultimately costing him three games against Tennessee, UMass, and Georgia Tech.
Greene would return for Georgia’s SEC Championship win over Texas, although Monroe Freeling had established himself as the team’s starting left tackle by then.
Speaking to UGASports in the locker room after Georgia’s loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, Greene reflected on his season.
“I mean, it’s football, you know, knick-knack,” Greene said of his injuries. “Everybody has them. But, you know, some just linger and I’m just looking forward to reassessing and getting my body right.”
The Bulldogs hope Greene can stay healthy.
With Georgia having to replace four starting offensive linemen, just having players with experience is a big deal.
Greene’s versatility also gives the Bulldogs options.
Should Freeling remain at left tackle, Greene could easily slide over to right tackle, or perhaps even play inside at guard.
“Earnest is a great, talented kid,” offensive lineman Stacy Searels said. “He’ll be a good player for us.”
But there’s plenty of improvement to be made.
Not only did Georgia’s run game finish ranked next-to-last in the SEC, but it struggled to win the line of scrimmage more times than Greene cares to recall.
That included the loss to Notre Dame.
“They didn’t sit still. You know, they moved a bit early down, run down specifically to try to just not let us get forehands on them and get our double-teams on them,” Greene said. “We’ve just got to work on getting our second step in the ground and getting our feet in the ground and anticipating.”
Greene praised the performance of quarterback Gunner Stockton.
“Gunner played his heart out. Y’all all know his story and everything. And he proved it,” Greene said. “Everything he went out there and did. He played confident and poised. He kept his emotions under control, never got too high, and never got too low. He was the same person every play in the huddle, and that’s all we need. We just got to execute better than the rest of them.”
Greene said that certainly goes for the offensive line.
“Yeah, for sure. You know, you always just want to look back and just try to remember this feeling,” he said. “This is the feeling that drives you in all your off-season workouts and everything that you do to prepare to get ready for long, hard, gruesome seasons like these, honestly. You just want to look back and try to remember this feeling.”
