Kirby Smart sheds light on why Jermaine Burton was not a big factor in the Clemson win
By Keith Farner
Published:
Kirby Smart knows Jermaine Burton was Georgia’s third-leading receiver in 2020, and expected to play a meaningful role in the offense this season. So when he wasn’t much of a factor in the win over Clemson, Smart explained why.
Burton caught 2 passes for 11 yards in the game, including a long of 8 yards.
“He’s not in game shape, he’s not in game speed, and we’ve got to improve that, we’ve got to work on it,” Smart said Monday at his weekly press conference. “He’s certainly a very talented football player that we’re excited about. He will help us be explosive, he’s just got to practice more.”
Smart said that he thinks out of the 45 practices held in 2021, Burton, a sophomore, has participated in “10 or 15” of them.
Burton was also a young player last year, so Smart said, “He knows that his best football is in front of him. He’s done everything we’ve asked in terms of getting well, rehabbing, pushing himself.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
