UGA Football Coach Kirby Smart Gives Major Defensive Line Update
Real Georgia Fans Don’t Miss the Dawg Post Newsletter - Sign up now!
ATHENS - Georgia Bulldog head coach Kirby Smart spoke with reporters on Wednesday about the defensive line, some of his transfers, the nine-game conference schedule, and much more.
On the defensive line...
“Xavier McLeod hasn't been with us since the second practice. I think he practiced once or twice before he decided to give it up and just didn't want to play football anymore. We certainly respect that. He'll graduate this semester and we’re happy for Xavier. Our guys have been practicing really hard at defensive line and we’ve got a really good group that is exciting to watch. They have been doing an exceptional job. Tray Scott really pushes that group and they've been doing a great job at practice. We’ve probably got as much depth as we've had there. I don't know that we have one dominant player, but we've gotten a lot of depth deposition and I'm excited to watch those guys go play.”
On the receivers helping as pass-catchers...
“They've all caught the ball wheel. I don't think that that's the question when you talk about 3rd down back. It's always going to be protection based. Most running backs catch the ball well. They're good athletes. Some catch it better than others, but our group has worked really hard on that in the offseason. We do a ton of drill work. There's only so much you can do at running back in terms of running the ball. There's a lot more you can do in terms of catching the ball, working with receivers, running routes, pressure catches, distracted catches, and that group's done a really good job. So I'm very pleased with them.”
On which players are getting more oppostuniries on the defensive line...
“They're all going to get more, you know? There's going to be a lot of guys who are going to get an opportunity to play. We had 15 practices in the spring where all the guys took all the reps that were spread out pretty evenly. I feel good about that room and all those guys are going to be ready to play.”
On the play of transfer defensive backs JaMArley Riddle and Braylon Conley...
“I think all those guys transfer guys have done a great job. Gentry (Williams) the same way. They picked things up. JaMarley came in with a significant injury so his hurdle has been more overcoming the injury, and it's very significant, but he's practiced and done a good job. Conley has done a good job. He's competing and taking reps and done a good job at cornerback and giving us the depth that we wanted to get out of bringing those guys in.”
On possibly playing up to 10 SEC games before the playoffs...
“Yeah, it's going to be tough. I feel like we have good depth relative to our conference but it's never good enough. Or you never feel good enough about it. I worry because of the wear and tear of the kids. We've obviously practiced different this camp than we have probably ever before with the end in mind at the beginning. But it's concerning because of the additional game and the physicality of our games in this league. Only time will tell. I think everybody's got to be smart. You can't not practice.”
