Bean's done for year, Smith cleared, Richt looks to start new

Nose tackle Justin Anderson will have season-ending toe surgery, head coach Mark Richt said after Wednesday’s practice.

Anderson, a junior, missed the past two games with turf toe, and Richt said the decision was made to get the surgery now so he could be ready for his final year. Anderson has already taken a redshirt year, so he would not be eligible for a sixth season.

The decision also hurts the team depth-wise at the position. DeAngelo Tyson has been starting there, and Kwame Geathers got some snaps against Arkansas. Brandon Wood and Abry Jones have also shifted inside in certain packages.

“The nose position, we still feel like we’re still good with DeAngelo and Kwame,” Richt said. “And other people can jump in there.”

In other news:

- Branden Smith (concussion) was cleared to practice and should be able to play against Mississippi State. Smith would return punts and do anything else (including offense) if he’s cleared to play in the game.

“He was symptom-free,” Richt said. “He didn’t get a headache or anything like that, any kind of symptom. So Ron (Courson, the trainer) let him practice today in a non-contact jersey. He feels pretty confident he’ll play if there’s no setback.”

- Guard Chris Davis (hip and knee) practiced Wednesday. Davis and Tanner Strickland are “basically competing” to start at right guard, Richt said.

- Fullback Shaun Chapas (ankle) practiced but “definitely didn’t look 100 percent,” according to Richt. But Chapas still isn’t being ruled out for Starkville.

- Richt thinks tailback Caleb King (ankle) will be 100 percent by game time.

- Inside linebacker Richard Samuel (knee) still isn’t being counted out for a return. The Bulldogs are wary of the depth at the position, but all indications are he would still probably redshirt.

- Tackle Josh Davis will serve as a captain on Saturday in place of center Ben Jones, who suggested to Richt that Davis – the team’s lone Mississippi native – be able to serve in the role in his home state.

- Richt’s message to the team on Wednesday was to act like it was “Day one.”

“I think it’d be good. Just have a day-one attitude," Richt said. "Let’s get the same feeling that we had for the first game of the year. Because what I don’t want to happen is for the last couple ballgames to affect this ballgame. So we need to put it behind us and move forward, and get that same feeling we had when we played the very first ballgame. It’s just more for everybody’s psychological attitude, I guess.”