Status of UGA LBs remains undecided

It’s not clear yet whether Natrez Patrick and Roquan Smith will face discipline for a marijuana incident on campus Saturday or whether they will be available for Georgia against Florida.

Coach Kirby Smart was asked on Wednesday’s SEC teleconference what he could say about the situation, and whether they would be available for the game in Jacksonville.

“Right now really all I can comment on is we’re continuing to gather information, and we’ll handle everything appropriately in due time,” Smart said. “But I don’t have a timeline for that right now.”

Patrick and Smith are Georgia’s starting inside linebackers and the team’s two leaders in tackles this season.

UGA police were called to Patrick’s dorm room Saturday night after a resident assistant reported the smell of marijuana. Neither Patrick or Smith were charged.

The police report said a search of Patrick’s room “produced no marijuana of testable quantity,” though Patrick admitted to keeping marijuana in a hidden compartment built into a fake can of Arizona Strawberry Tea.

Patrick was suspended one game last year after an arrest for marijuana possession. Under UGA’s student-athlete handbook, a second marijuana violation brings a four-game suspension. Smith has never been suspended.

There is precedent for Georgia suspending a player for marijuana when he was not arrested: In 2013, Josh Harvey-Clemons was suspended for the opener (at Clemson) under similar circumstances.