Spring Break
Signee to miss G-Day after back surgery
NICK PARKER
Issue date: 4/10/09 Section: First & Goal
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Well, add one incoming freshman to that list early.
That's offensive tackle Austin Long, who will be redshirting after having back surgery two weeks ago that will sideline him for all of the preseason.
"The doctors said I should be ready to practice by September or October. They said it would be six to seven months before I was fully healthy," Long said. "And I'll be doing physical therapy pretty heavily, and then, once I get to Georgia, they will have me on their own physical therapy program."
With Long having back surgery, he said it is now "for sure" that he will redshirt.
"I'll be looking to get a lot stronger," he said. "That's why I'm kind of glad I get to go because they were talking about me not going June 1 when everyone else does, but they're going to let me come down when everyone else does. So hopefully I can get on the physical therapy program and get bigger and stronger so I can contribute after my redshirt year."
Long, who fractured two parts of his L-5 vertebrate, initially wasn't planning on having surgery at all but later had a change of heart.
"I had a part fracture on both sides of my vertebrate, my L-5, and it was either play with the pain or have surgery. So I finally decided to just have surgery on it," Long said.
Fortunately, the back injury is progressively healing after the surgery, and doctors said the prognosis is good. However, it will prevent him from attending this weekend's G-Day game.
"I went and got a CT scan today, and I slept good last night for the first time in a while," Long said. "And so the pain is going down and that's good. I'm doing more walking around and stuff, but I don't think I'm going to be going to be able to make it to the G-Day game just because of the travel. My dad doesn't want it to flare up again, so I'm just going to stay at home and get it well."
Throughout his recovery process, Long said the Georgia coaches have been incredibly supportive of every decision he's made.
"They're just wanting me to get better and everything, but they said stuff happens," Long said. "And so they just can't wait for me to get there and get me on their physical therapy program, so I can start getting better and getting ready to practice."
Long has also kept in contact with his future classmates, most specifically freshman quarterback Aaron Murray.
"I talked to Aaron a couple days ago, and I've been checking up on the Web sites and everything, and he's actually doing pretty good so that's pretty exciting," Long said.
However, Long is still upset he won't make it to Athens.
"You know, I'm pretty mad I can't go (this weekend), I really wanted to go and see everyone, but my dad just doesn't think it's a good idea," he said.
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