Georgia's Gunner Stockton said to be showing no concussion symptoms after Auburn loss

Georgia football quarterback Gunner Stockton has shown no symptoms of a concussion in the days after the Bulldogs loss to Auburn, coach Kirby Smart said Tuesday.

Stockton landed head first on the first Georgia offensive play of the game after he ran and dove to avoid a tackle.

“He has not had any concussion symptoms, so I can only go off what medical people tell me,” Smart said. “I looked at him in the eye and talking to him, there was no issue on any of that.”

After the play, referee Daniel Gautreaux announced a “medical stop,” to remove Stockton from the game. That decision came from the SEC’s independent medical observer in the replay booth. The observer has their own monitor to spot head injuries that may go undetected on the field.

Stockton thew two interceptions—his first multi-interception game of his career—and fumbled late in the 27-24 upset loss Saturday for the then No. 1 Bulldogs.

He completed 22 of 34 passes for 272 yards and 2 touchdowns, but had some uncharacteristic off target throws.

That, along with the turnovers and Stockton going to the sideline and then running onto the field late to hold for a field goal that was blocked left some wondering whether he was feeling the effects of landing on his helmet on the first play. Smart said Tuesday Stockton thought Georgia was punting instead of kicking a long field goal.

Three Georgia trainers met Stockton as he came off field after the opening play and Smart patted him on helmet.

Backup Ryan Puglisi came in the game and drove Georgia from its own 30 to the Auburn 15 while in for three plays before Stockton returned to the game.

Smart said after the game Saturday that Stockton was “checked out. They said he was good.”

Stockton was checked for a concussion but also sustained a shoulder “stinger.”

“They checked him out and brought him back in, said he was cleared,” Smart said Saturday.

On Tuesday Smart said of the stinger: "That can affect you. That's hard. That's what linebackers get. …That's what a lot of players get. But you bounce back from those quickly, so I think you know everybody's making speculation and things, but I mean, look the guy played really good against Alabama and he could have very easily had two interceptions, right? . …So, like, he played pretty good and had two interceptions (against Auburn). He still did some really good things in that game, and I don't think that the making it about a head injury when there's no symptoms of that are realistic."

Smart said Stockton has dealt with a stinger before.

Stockton said after the game he didn’t think there were any lingering effects from landing on his head when he returned to the game.

Stockton was sharp on Georgia’s game-tying touchdown drive when he was 8 of 11 for 74 yards and a touchdown and gained 20 yards on a run.

The SEC has secured the participation of medical professionals to serve as medical observers since 2015. The observer can take action to have a player come out of the game, according to the SEC’s initial announcement of its observer process, if he “displays obvious signs of disorientation or is clearly unstable due to head or neck injury, and it becomes apparent that the player will remain in the game and not be attended to by the team's medical or athletic training staff…”

The No. 4 Bulldogs have an open date on their schedule this week before returning to play rival Florida Oct. 31 in Atlanta.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia's Gunner Stockton said to be showing no concussion symptoms after Auburn loss