Should Kelly Bryant play if he isn't 100% this weekend?

Yesterday, Kelly Bryant told us that the plan is for him to start this weekend against Georgia Tech.

After being knocked out cold and re-tweaking his injured ankle, the first-string quarterback was in good spirits and looked to be his usual self.

The critical question is: should he play if that ankle is not 100-percent healthy?

Bryant said that he went into the Syracuse game feeling good on that ankle. There were no signs of tape or a brace on the injured ankle during warm-ups as Bryant was bouncing around in his regular routine.

Once the game began, he went from having a bounce in his step to barely having any steps at all.

Bryant’s immobility at the quarterback position was a significant concern for a Tiger offense that has become a run-first offense this season.

He told us yesterday that his ability to use his legs sets up the pass and head coach Dabo Swinney told us that to be a good team, you have to be able to impose your will on the ground.

If Bryant is not fully capable of imposing his will on the ground this weekend, there is no need to make the same mistake twice and risk further injury before a potential Atlantic division championship game at NC State.

Co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said yesterday that he believes that with the right gameplan and expectations, it doesn’t matter who the quarterback is.

“Really, you have a feeling for what the guys are confident doing. Not just the quarterback position, but across the board as you’re trying to call plays,” Elliott said. “So really the biggest thing is making sure throughout the course of the week that you’re not overloading any one of those guys to make sure you’ve got a sound plan.”

The next man in line if Bryant was somehow unable to go is still Zerrick Cooper. Elliott elaborated on what keeps Cooper just above Hunter Johnson in a neck-and-neck quarterback competition.

“Within our system, there’s a lot of things that the quarterback has to control. And it just takes experience,” Elliott said. “If you go back and you watched Kelly when he was a young guy going in there behind Deshaun, there were a lot of things. Just the nuances of when to send guys in motion, when do you need to pull the ball and throw it on your RPO? Just those little things.”

What keeps Cooper ahead of Johnson is the entire body of work. While Johnson was throwing passes in Indiana this time last year, Cooper had a second-row seat, behind Bryant, watching Deshaun Watson.

“There are just a couple of things that you’ve got to remind (Johnson) on that you don’t have to remind Zerrick on just because Zerrick’s been here,” Eliott said. Zerrick’s been in the system; he’s been around the terminology, he’s actually orchestrated the motions and all the adjustments that we have.”

If Bryant’s health is still in question on Saturday, it sounds like Cooper will continue to be the answer while Johnson continues to wait patiently.

If Bryant is 100 percent by Saturday, this means nothing. If not, it means everything.