UGA Football coach Kirby Smart Gives Critical Injury Updates Before Clash with Jackets
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ATHENS - UGA Football has a Friday night clash in Athens against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and Tuesday is the final time Kirby Smart will meet with reporters before the rivalry game.
On new NCAA roster rules…
“Don't really know. I can't answer that question. I wish I could. We haven't been told anything on the walk-ons in terms of, we just don't know. So, I asked daily, and a lot of it is conference to conference, and a lot of it is the legal case in California how it resolves itself and the timing of that. So, I don't really know. I mean, it's going to be strange 30 days. I can tell you that.”
On Tray Scott…
“Yeah, he's a rock. He's a pillar at this place and he's one of the guys that's been here the longest, which I have a lot of respect for because we don't do it easy around here. You know, we work a tough schedule, work a hard schedule, I’m very demanding of our coaches and I have high expectations and he meets those. He is tremendous with his group. He's tremendous with other groups. He inspires people with his story, but you know, he cares about these kids. He's a tremendous father and husband. He's really what college coaching is all about. The guy pours into these kids so much. It means so much to him that he wants to give back to them and change their lives, not about playing time. You look at the relationships he's had with Zion Logue, Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt, Jalen Carter. I mean the guy has just had tremendous relationships and he keeps in touch with all the guys he has coached. I can't say enough good things about him, so he's definitely deserving of that honor.”
HUNKER DOWN THE CHIMNEY
On Colbie Young…
“Yeah, I'm going to stick with what I said. I respect everybody has a lot of questions, but I can't really say much about it. We'd rather not talk about our practice stuff.”
On the running back room…
“Trevor [Etienne] has been out to run. He's running well. He hit 20-21 miles an hour yesterday, which is really good for him. He looks good, but he hasn't gotten to do anything with us. Rod [Robinson II] has done practice, contact. Has done taking reps. He's looked good out there. Branson [Robinson] has too. Branson is taking some. I didn't get to see the last part of practice to know how much Branson and Rod did early in practice. They did take some reps in with the twos and rolled through there, just seeing where they are confidence level and where they are mentally, you know. They've been kind of out of contact for a while, but both of them did practice and did some good things.”
On how the players have handled a short week
“Great. We had a good plan for it, and we just keep calling today Wednesday. Today is Wednesday, and that's what we talked about all day, and we do Wednesday practice, and we do Wednesday work and Wednesday install, and it becomes normal for you.”
On Glenn Schumann…
“Glenn has always been wise, innovative, a great teacher. Both his parents were educators and teachers and coaches. You can see he enjoys being in front of the group, in front of the room, and teach in different ways. Thinking outside the box, and he works extremely hard. So, he's dedicated and spends a lot of time on his craft whether it's scheme or fundamentals or relationships. He was good when he started but he's just more experienced now.”
On London Humphreys and the freshmen tight ends…
“London, we didn't have as many wideouts available. So, London stepped up his quantity of reps, his volume of reps. He's capable probably of more than that. He's in good shape. He plays hard. He's smart. He plays multiple positions. He does a really good job. We’d prefer to play more people and be able to share that load. But right now, we're dealing with a lot of injuries and attrition at that position. Tight end, Colton [Heinrich] and Jaden [Reddell] have both grown up. They've been down there on the scout team. I get to watch them daily compete against good outside backers, good defensive lineman, good DBs, and they continue to grow and get better. Proud of both those guys.
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On Georgia Tech’s offensive line…
“They’ve got great numbers. They run the rock, so if you run the rock that's times you're not throwing the rock. I think somebody said they had five sacks. I don't know if that's right. Five sacks on the entire year. That's crazy. I think they're one in the country. Well, they got athletic quarterbacks. They got really good protection, schemes. They get the ball out in time. Buster [Faulkner] moves the pocket, and they run the ball. So, if you run it enough, you don't have to worry about sacks. This is not a sack game. This is a strap it on, strike somebody in the mouth, keys, fits kind of game. They know it is we know it is. No way around it, but they've done a tremendous job in that.”
On playing teams that believe they can win…
“Well, it's not about them, no offense. I do agree with everything you said that that has changed, but it's not it's not about what they think. It's about what we think and how we play. We have to control that. We have to have a ‘seeking contact’ attitude and enjoyment of a street fight. Not everybody loves that, so it’s just one of those things that you find out a lot about yourself when you get to play a really physical football team like these guys. So, that's what we focus on – us.”
On Earnest Greene III and his evaluation of the left tackle position…
“Don't know yet. He's done more this week. He's actually worked at right and left [tackle]. I'm very pleased with the play at our left tackle. Outside of a probably two-quarter performance there [Ole Miss] where we had to throw the ball a lot. I think we played well at that position.”
On Christen Miller and Dillon Bell…
“Christen Miller not much. He's been banged up. Recovering, running, doing some treatment stuff. Dillon Bell, a little bit. He's done some walkthroughs with us and taking some reps. We're just trying to get those guys healthy and ready.”
On if he watches the CFP playoff rankings show…
“No. We got work. We start right now at about 6:30 and go to about 10 or so. So, usually my phone starts blowing up a text, but I don't watch it.”
On the 24 hours leading up to the Georgia Tech game…
“We're treating the exact same. Thanksgiving Day is a Friday for us. Friday is a Saturday. There'll be nothing different other than we'll have a Thanksgiving team meal, and we'll have no school. Outside of that, it's all the same.”