Kirby Smart provides update on QB Gunner Stockton's knee injury

Athens, Ga. — Georgia head coach Kirby Smart eased any concern about quarterback Gunner Stockton’s availability on Tuesday, confirming that the rising junior has moved past the minor knee issue he sustained during winter workouts.

“He’s great,” Smart said after practice. “He’s practicing. He had a little offseason injury in our workouts. He’s fine now. He was limited a little bit first couple of days but out there competing, doing a good job, focusing on the other things he needed to improve on.”

Stockton, who entered the spring wearing a protective sleeve on his right knee, has taken the majority of first-team reps as the Bulldogs install their 2026 offense. The 6-foot-2 signal-caller threw for 2,894 yards and 24 touchdowns against only five interceptions last season, finishing sixth nationally with an 84.9 QBR. He also added 462 rushing yards and 10 scores on the ground.

The offense Stockton is directing this spring has a distinctly new look. Receivers Colbie Young, Dillon Bell, Noah Thomas and Zachariah Branch have all departed for the NFL draft, leaving Stockton to rebuild timing with a remade pass-catching corps that includes London Humphreys, Sacovie White-Helton and Talyn Taylor. Georgia Tech transfer Isiah Canion—projected to fill the large-bodied role vacated by Young—has been limited by an ankle sprain Smart described as “not real serious.”

With Stockton back to full speed, the next checkpoint on Georgia’s calendar is G-Day, the program’s annual spring game, set for Saturday, April 18 at 1 p.m. ET inside Sanford Stadium. The intrasquad scrimmage will not be televised but will be carried live on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network radio affiliates.

Stockton’s continued health figures to be one of the primary storylines heading into preseason camp, as Georgia eyes a return to the College Football Playoff after last season’s quarterfinal exit.