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ATHENS - Georgia Bulldog head coach Kirby Smart spoke with reporters on Tuesday about fall camp, the quarterbacks, several freshmen and more...
Opening comments...
“We just finished what we consider to be fall camp. We finished up practice 15 or 16 on Saturday and we're kind of moving on to some special needs areas. Areas that we got to work on, some finer points, some things we've got to clean up before game time. Start to work a little bit on opponents. Each coordinator's giving things they want to work on and we're going to try to target those things this week.”
On details from second scrimmage...
“I thought there were some really positives on both sides of the ball. Offense continues to be effective and efficient in the red area. The run game in terms of putting dents in the defense and being physical was really good. Defensively, I think there were some turnovers in there, some sacks, and we created some havoc which is important. But all in all, both sides of the ball continue to get better. I was very pleased with the performance on both sides of the ball.”
On freshman OL Zykie Helton...
“Yeah, he's a pleasure to coach. He's in good spirits each day. He has fire, passion and energy. That's what we challenge players to have, and he has that. He has toughness and when you combine that with talent you've got a good player. He's grown into a role for us. He’s not afraid to be challenged or afraid to be coached, and I think that's a great quality in any player. But, it's important that he sustains that and doesn't become entitled or sensitive or complacent because he is a talented player that has to challenge himself day in and day out.”
On freshmen DL Valdin Sone and PJ Dean...
“Yeah Valdin’s worked really hard and he's creating a role in terms of his twitch and his disruption. He's really athletic. Maybe he could get stronger, and be able to hold the point better, but when it comes to getting off blocks, running the ball, chasing the ball, he's going to make us better. He going to have a role this year and play in some form or fashion. He plays a little special teams because he can run. He's bright, he's intelligent, he loves football.”
“PJ's probably just starting to scratch the surface. He did not get to go through the spring. He had an injury when he first got here in the weight room that he had to deal with, and he had injuries in the spring. He's just consistently missed time, but now he's growing up rapidly. He's helping us. He's going to be a good football player but he's got to get a lot of the mistakes out of the way. He's worked with the outside backers more lately than defensive ends. He’s a little bit lighter than we imagined he would be, but he can run. And with the Amarris Williams being out we’ve got to find ways to rush the passer. And I do think he's going to help us add depth, and he's a tremendous kid. He loves to work. “
On the backup quarterbacks...
“I think all four of those guys have done a tremendous job. That battle's not over. It's one of those things that will continue to see and inevitably, you'd like to see it play out in live action. But is that live action through us or is that live action through a game? I don't know if we'll get a chance to do that. But we have chances every day for them to go in critical, crucial, 2 minute drives, 3rd down competitions, and they both had their good, they both had their bad, and they can continue to get better.”
On the pass rush...
“I don't know if I've seen that improve. I mean, we didn't have a sack fest out there. That was not what it was at all. We are not where we need to be in terms of pass rush because we're missing some guys. We're having to do it in other ways. We'll have to do that probably all year in terms of the way we create pressure and how we go about it. To say that we're where we need to be in the pass rush, I don't know that we are.”
On financial literacy of his team and former players...
“We've got people in the house that help our players. We bring in speakers, but speakers can only do so much. They can educate in a one hour seminar, if you're not providing in-house help, then you're probably shortening these guys. And we have a tremendous group here to meet with our players constantly. We provide tax services for our players and investment opportunities. And I think that's pretty much now the norm.”
On Quintavius Johnson...
“His leadership has grown. His toughness has grown. I love Q’ because each and every day,it's important to him and he gets better with each and every rep. He embodies the toughness of this organization. He's been really competitive and helped us at the same position in the jack position, and we want him to continue to grow.”
On Isaiah Canion...
“He's come in and blended really well. I think he was comfortable in the room because of the players on the team, and having guys he played high school with and played against all his life. Just the general Georgia consensus of being a Georgia player. He's been around it. He's worked really hard. He's relatively quiet but he plays physical and he plays hard. He plays tough. He's not afraid to go down and make hard blocks and dig people out, but he's also got speed and athleticism to be a weapon on the perimeter. He's had a really good, quiet camp, and I'm very pleased with what he's brought to our team.
