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ATHENS - Kirby Smart spoke with reporters on Wednesday about his Bulldogs and where things stand as the Dawgs continue fall practice.
On Justice Fitzpatrick...
“He's cleared. He's working every day. He's doing individual drills. He's in all the meetings, doing all walk-throughs, doing movement skills. He has not done live tackling yet like some of our other guys have done, but I don't have a true timeline on that.”
On the wide receivers...
“Yeah they work tremendously hard each day. I think they've had a good camp as a group. The quarterbacks and the offensive line a lot of times make your receivers. So the receivers don't get to just go out and have success on their own. They have to have a lot of things happen to have the success they want to have. They have to take advantage of opportunities they get and then to go against good people and competition. But it's more than just them in order to have a success. Am I pleased with their work habits and what they're doing? Absolutely, I am. I wouldn’t say anybody in the room is dominating me by any means. There's young players that are coming on fast, and by young, I mean, first and second year, and then there's older players who are leading well and doing a tremendous job for us. So, very pleased in that room.”
On Drew Bobo...
“He practiced yesterday, all day, and took every rep. He's great.”
On the defense effecting the quarterback with four rushers...
“I don't know if Saturday showed that. Saturday was hard to really see anything as it was 115 degrees on the field. It showed mental fortitude, mental toughness. It showed how we practice in our program. Not like everybody else's. I mean, we go out in the heat probably more than most and we condition our team that way. I don't know that I could say anything was done Saturday. I've been through 33 first scrimmages, I've seen it all. I'm not ready to say that they’re getting there every time. I certainly hope they can. But I didn't see any indication that that was the case from what I saw Saturday.”
On Gunner Stockton’s progression...
“Gunner’s improved immensely. It's not specifically one area, but it's confidence. Basically, his mental capacity to handle a lot of information at once, process that information, and yet still make good decisions. Confidence in the pocket, his movement, skills in the pocket had improved. His awareness of protections have improved, his ability to handle the pressure of the shot clock, a nine word call, the defenses we're throwing at him, and getting people lined up has improved. But he's done some good things, this camp. You can see his growth in a lot of areas, because of some of his leadership. Some of its mentorship, and some of it's just throwing ability and getting the ball downfield. I’m pleased with Gunner's growth and really pleased with his work ethic.”
On Craig Dandridge...
“He continues to get better and continues to work day in and day out. He's been a pleasure to work with.”
On Cole Speer...
“There's a lot of assumptions in what you just said so I wouldn't make any assumptions right now with the NCAA and the rulings and the things going on. So he is not officially back with the team. We've had conversations with him and a lot of guys but nothing's official yet.”
On the running backs...
“I want someone that's a really good pass receiver, really intelligent, savvy, and instincts are more important. You know, you'd say protection's the number one thing, but of all the third down snaps we have, I bet 10, 15% of them end up having to block somebody. So it's not the most important thing. It's more important that you catch the ball. You understand the routes, you know the protections. You can get yourself out when the quarterback changes the protection. It's a lot that goes into being the third down back, which is why Cash was so good at it. And we've been a pretty good third down team over the last five years on average. We've been good, and we want to continue to be good at third down. That starts with being in third and short and medium and not in third and long.”
“But as far as who will be that back, nobody has stood out. Nobody has taken that role and said, Okay, I can do this, to the level Cash did it in terms of protection, catching ball out of the backfield, instincts, just so much that goes into that. That's still an open position group.”
On the backup quarterbacks...
“Yeah, I'm pleased with their growth as well. They've all gotten good work. They've gotten quality reps. Gunner’s probably taking fewer this year than he did last year, and he still takes substantially more than most, but he's been able to kind of delegate some of those reps out to other guys, which has helped us develop them. And the conditions on the scrimmage the other day were tough. They weren't conducive to being able to throw the ball all the time. I'm experienced enough, being 50 years old, that, you know, there comes a time and a scrimmage when it's hard to throw it, because there's so much community and moisture in the air, and we didn't stop because of that. We kept doing it, and it's good to be able to overcome some of those hurdles that you get, and, you know, sometimes you grow from those, and you get to rub their nose in it, and you get better from it. So, all in all, I was pleased with the effort and scrimmage. There's a lot of errors we can improve on. We're not near where we need to be yet but I was pleased with the effort of the guys.”
On Jontae Gilbert...
“Jontae's working really hard. He gives us a big physical presence. He got great size. He plays probably more boundary corner than field, which tends to get more contact and touching on the receivers and more physical aspect of it. He's a silent worker. He works really hard and that group has really competed hard during camp. They're trying to get better. We're trying to get better each and every day in that room. That room's no different than the other rooms. I've been really pleased with Jontae’s progress.
On Juan Gaston Jr...
“I would say stamina needs to improve. He has to be able to play more snaps. He's got to have better stamina, and I've addressed that with him. I told him he can do one or two things. You can read what people write about you or you can listen to what your coaches tell you and listen to the truth. We're very honest with him that he's got to get in better shape and be able to sustain. Not only him but several guys have got to be able to play winning football. You’ve got to be able to play for an eight-ten play drive in a row, and part of doing that is putting the pads on and going out and doing it. You can work out with coach Sinclair all summer. You can run all summer, but that doesn't mean you're prepared to go out in Sanford Stadium and play a 10 play drive when it's 110 degrees, and we're not where we need to be in regards to that.”
“That's not directly at Juan as much as it is everybody. It's a group. So, I enjoy coaching Juan. Juan loves football. He goes out to work each and every day. He's got the flexibility to kick in from tackle to guard. He’s a good athlete. He likes to practice. He likes football and he's fun to be around. But we’ve got to keep making him better.”
