Kirby Smart provided an update on star tight end Brock Bowers’ status following an ankle injury he suffered against Vanderbilt. Bowers underwent tightrope surgery and is set to miss 4-6 weeks of action.

When asked about how he balances the NFL future of Bowers versus wanting to come back to win another title, Smart said that there is no timeline that can be put on recovery and nothing can be forced.

“Brock will take on that same rehab process, and his surgeon and Ron (Courson) will work together on that to get him back. It won’t be done any different,” Smart said. “The key is, we’re trying to get him back healthy. There is no timeline for when he comes back to play. The timeline is when he’s healthy, and I don’t think you could put a timeline on it because historically there’s been guys that came back really fast and guys that have come back really slow. Each one is different.”

Lost in injury news can be the impact it has on the emotions of a player. When asked about how Bowers is doing, Smart gave an encouraging answer.

“Brock Bowers is great. Brock Bowers is rock solid,” Smart said. “He wanted to get thing done as soon as he found out it had to be done. We were able to expedite that process. He’s great, he looked everybody in the eyes today and wishing he could be out there. He’s in great spirits, he’s got a great family, he’s got great heart. He’s a warrior so he’ll handle it the right way.”