Here's what Kirby Smart thinks about quarterback Jake Fromm's hand injury

Jake Fromm’s broken hand became a big discussion topic on the Fourth of July.

As it turned out, the sophomore quarterback spent some time on a lake and ended up with a fractured bone in what was a complete accident.

The injury to his non-throwing hand isn’t severe, and Fromm won’t miss any meaningful practice time. But naturally, an off-field injury like this gets magnified when it happens to your starting quarterback who just led his team to an appearance in the national championship.

Appearing at former NFL head coach Bruce Arians’ Georgia Celebrity Golf Classic at Lake Oconee, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said what Fromm did during his offseason isn’t much different than what he did when he was in college. Therefore, there isn’t any blame to be passed around, especially for an injury that isn’t a big deal.

“We do what we do as kids,” Smart said. “I did the same thing when I was playing. A lot of people do that. I don't think you live your life scared and worried about that. You want to be safe, you want to take precaution, but you don't want things like that to control your lifestyle.”

This is the second minor off-field injury Fromm has experienced this offseason. Earlier this summer, Fromm was fishing with a friend and ended up with a lure stuck in his leg. Fromm needed to have the lure taken out at a nearby clinic.

The potential for off-field injuries away from the team facility does give coaches reason for concern.

Shane Beamer, now an assistant at Oklahoma after spending the past two seasons at Georgia, said it’s imperative for student-athletes to stay safe when they’re away from the football team during the summer. At the same time, they shouldn’t be prohibited from doing normal and everyday activities they are accustomed to.

“It’s a thin line,” Beamer said. “You want them to have fun in the summer time and be college young men but also be responsible and know what’s expected of them. Their situations are different. You hold your breath as coaches in the summer time because this is the one time of the year where you don’t have a lot of contact with them. The strength coach does, but other than that, they’re kind of on their own.”

Beamer expects Georgia to be just fine since Fromm avoided a serious injury.

“It doesn’t sound like Jake’s (injury) is too serious, and he’ll be rocking and rolling pretty soon,” he said.

Former Georgia quarterback D.J. Shockley said former head coach Mark Richt and former offensive coordinator Mike Bobo used to ask players to refrain from activities such as riding a motorcycle. They also preferred for players not to participate in intramural basketball leagues, although they usually did so anyway.

“We were kids. We thought we were invincible,” Shockley said. “We didn't think we would get hurt. There was never anything where they said, ‘Stay away from it; you can't do it,’ so I'm sure that's the same boat they're in. Whatever you do, be careful so you can play on Saturdays come September.”

This story was originally published July 9, 2018 at 12:26 PM with the headline "Here's what Kirby Smart thinks about quarterback Jake Fromm's hand injury."