Georgia five-star freshman running back Zamir White tore the ACL in his left knee during Saturday afternoon's second preseason scrimmage in Sanford Stadium.
White had been practicing and scrimmaging this month with a protective brace on his right knee as a result of tearing his right ACL last November.
"I'm sick for the kid," Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart said Saturday in a news conference.
Smart said the injury occurred while White was covering a punt, adding there was no contact and "nobody really around." He then bristled when a reporter asked whether it was unusual to have a running back on the punt-coverage team.
"Sony Michel was a first-round pick, and he covered punts," Smart said. "Derrick Henry covered every punt at Alabama. D'Andre Swift is a starter on the punt team."
White, a 6-foot, 210-pounder from Laurinburg, North Carolina, was practicing without any limitations this month, and his Sept. 1 debut against Austin Peay had been eagerly anticipated. He rushed for 2,086 yards and 34 touchdowns in 11 games as a Scotland High School senior, averaging a whopping 14.1 yards per carry.
During the second-round playoff game in which he was injured in the third quarter, White had eight carries for 145 yards and three touchdowns.
Before the opening preseason practice, Smart discussed White and how well he had progressed. White enrolled in January and participated in limited work this spring.
"He's in a very similar situation to when I arrived (in 2016) with Nick Chubb," Smart said Aug. 3. "He went through spring, and it kind of reminded me of Chubb. You guys saw Nick doing some things that first spring back, some ball-handling and things like that, and that's kind of where Zamir has been.
"Zamir did a very similar protocol to what Nick did, whether it was karate or doing some things on mats. If anything, I would say he's ahead of where Nick was his junior year, because his injury was not quite as significant as Nick's was."
The Bulldogs are still solid at running back with Swift, Elijah Holyfield and Brian Herrien back from last season's Southeastern Conference champions. Swift ran for 618 yards and averaged 7.6 yards per carry as a freshman a year ago, and adding White, the nation's top tailback prospect in the 2018 signing class, had Georgia fans envisioning Swift and White picking up where Chubb and Michel left off.
Georgia worked for 2 1/2 hours during the scrimmage, which was closed to the media but open to hundreds of donors.
"It was competitive, and I liked the grit and the fight," Smart said. "The offense was kind of struggling in the passing game with both groups, but I liked the fight and demeanor out there."
When pressed more about the offense and quarterbacks Jake Fromm and Justin Fields in particular, Smart said, "I didn't think either one of the guys played exceptionally well today. Maybe we put too much on them."
Smart said the inside linebackers remain a "by committee" situation, adding that Juwan Taylor is the most consistent right now with Tae Crowder, Natrez Patrick and Monty Rice bunched in the next group. Two freshmen vying for playing time are Channing Tindall and Quay Walker.
"The two young guys don't know what to do," Smart said. "They make busts. They make mistakes, but Channing Tindall and Quay Walker are fighting tooth and nail. They can run and they can hit you, and those are two qualities you want at linebacker.
"They have done that well."
Odds and ends
Redshirt freshman right tackle Isaiah Wilson had cramps and senior receiver Jayson Stanley "may have pulled a quad" during the scrimmage. Georgia may face Oregon in the 2022 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, according to 247Sports.com. Smart said sophomore defensive end Malik Herring has been cross-training as an outside linebacker and freshman Jake Camarda is leading in the punting competition but had a "shank" on Saturday.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.