Georgia HC Kirby Smart reaches out to Vikings S Lewis Cine after gruesome injury

As Minnesota Vikings safety Lewis Cine was carted off the field during Sunday’s 28-25 win over the New Orleans Saints in London, plenty of family, friends and teammates sent their best wishes to the 23-year-old rookie.

Among those to reach out to the fallen Viking was Kirby Smart, Cine’s head coach at the University of Georgia, whom he played under for three seasons from 2019-2021, winning a college football national championship last season.

Cine totaled 145 tackles, 16 pass breakups and two interceptions in 39 career games (27 starts) over three seasons at Georgia. He started 15 games for the Bulldogs in 2021 and earned first team All-SEC honors.

“Yeah, I reached out to him (Sunday); I did not hear back,” Smart said on Monday, via 247Sports. “I think he was going to go into surgery and was staying back behind the team. Sickening to see, and a guy that I felt like I was so close to, certainly hurt me to see that. You don't wish that upon anybody. Some of those injuries are part of the game, but just so sad. Such a great kid. He'll bounce back from it.”

Per a statement issued by the Vikings, Cine had successful surgery on Tuesday to fix the compound fracture he suffered in the first quarter of Sunday’s game. The operation was performed by Dr. Aswinkumar Vasireddy, the lead surgeon for the Orthopedic Trauma Group at the Cleveland Clinic London.