I swear I’m knocking on a wooden bookshelf as I type this, but I have to chuckle a little bit when I read dramatic headlines like 6 key Dogs miss practice and discussions about an “epidemic of strained and pulled hamstrings.”

Last night we found out that starting center Ben Jones got a scare with an ankle injury. X-rays were negative, and it’s just a sprain. Jones wasn’t the only starting Georgia lineman battled injury – tackle Clint Boling had a few nervous days over the weekend before finding out that his wrist injury was also a sprain. Boling’s already back at practice.

Not to tempt fate, but the way things went last year Jones’ and Boling’s x-rays and MRIs would have come back with a break or a tear if this were 2008. So far the most serious injury suffered during camp seems to be a three-week knee injury to safety Quintin Banks. I don’t mean to make light of hamstring pulls and sprains – which can linger into the season and become chronic problems – but the news on the inevitable preseason injuries has been pretty damn kind to the Dawgs so far. Just the fact that we have more than one or two healthy defensive ends with which to practice is a big improvement.

When you consider Arkansas losing starting cornerback Isaac Madison for the year or Texas losing four tight ends to season-ending injuries or even Georgia’s own situation a year ago, it could be a whole lot worse. I got that same sick feeling we went through time after time last year when I first heard about Boling and Jones, and news of their favorable results brought a big sigh of relief.

I’m holding my breath for the next two weeks just like the rest of us, but I’m not going to lose any sleep over some hamstring pulls and a few sprains. If things can somehow keep up this way, we’ll see a lot of these green jerseys start to disappear the week before the season.