The Georgia Bulldogs are into the bye week following their surprising defeat at the hands of the Auburn Tigers at home, and as disappointing as it was, a week off comes at a great time.

In the SEC, especially in a 9-game schedule world in the toughest conference in the sport, a break can often make a massive difference for teams. Everyone is banged up this time of year, and the Dawgs are no exception, but folks have been worried about the captain of the ship in quarterback Gunner Stockton.

Coming off the best two games of his career, Stockton was fairly dreadful against Auburn, and this led many to worry he was dealing with a concussion or other injury during the game. Kirby Smart revealed that his quarterback does not have any concussion symptoms, but that he is dealing with a shoulder stinger.

"He has not had any concussion symptoms, so I can only go off what medical people tell me," Smart said. "I look him in the eye and talking to him, there was no issue on any of that. He did have stinger in his shoulder and that can affect you...he still did some really good things in that game."

Smart went on to declare that folks making Stockton's performance about a head injury despite there being no evidence of that is a bit disingenuous, essentially saying turnovers are part of the game and even against Alabama, Stockton had an interception and nearly a second one.

Ultimately, the Dawgs need Stockton at his best if they are going to have a real chance to compete for a national title, so having him get the week to get healthy, rest his shoulder and ultimately get ready for another rivalry game against the Florida Gators is ideal.

It does not sound like Stockton was dealing with any kind of concussion symptoms despite what fans may have thought, but any kind of injury in the throwing shoulder will negatively impact a quarterback's ability to drive the football where it needs to go.

With his overall body of work this season, Stockton has not given anyone reason to doubt whether he is the best option to help this team win games, but he would be the first to tell you he needs to play better than what he did against the Auburn Tigers.

He has bounced back before and is as resilient as they come as it relates to bouncing back from mistakes and poor performances, so fans should expect a huge showing from Stockton next week against the Florida Gators. With time to get healthy and study and learn, there's a great chance Stockton will get everything fixed and get back to an elite level of play.