Auburn center Austin Wiley is doubtful to play on Wednesday when the Tigers travel to Georgia, per head coach Bruce Pearl. Wiley, who recently returned from missing five games due to a lower right leg injury, hurt the same leg in AU’s loss to Kentucky on Saturday.

Pearl said he expects Wiley to return this season, though didn’t give an exact timetable for his return.

'I think this is something that he’ll be able to come back from," Pearl said. "It’s just that we need to let it calm down and see how it progresses over the next week or so.”

Since Wiley’s return, he’s been seldom-used and fairly ineffective — still hampered by the recovery process. He played just a total of 46 minutes over the last six games, with a high of 13 minutes against Arkansas last week. He made just three field goals in that time, and scored a total of 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

On Feb. 15, Bruce Pearl said that Austin Wiley “is at no risk to injure it further,” in regards to his injury. On Tuesday, Pearl did say that Wiley didn’t get re-injured — though his potential absence is due to the same reason.

“He didn’t re-injure his lower leg; he just aggravated it with a tough landing,” Pearl said, noting there was an MRI done that revealed no new damage, though there was increased inflammation."

This is the third stint of time Wiley will likely miss this season. He didn’t play much in the preseason or in the opener due to a lower left leg injury.

Without Wiley, Auburn will rely on centers Anfernee McLemore and Horace Spencer — both of whom lead AU in fouls called per game.