Notes: King Out, Brown Back

With just two days remaining in spring practice, the injury bug finally appears to be taking its toll on Georgia’s roster.

The Bulldogs had their heftiest contingent of players in green, non-contact jerseys of the spring during Thursday’s practice, with several big names likely to miss Saturday’s G-Day game.

Tailback Caleb King has missed the past four practices, and head coach Mark Richt confirmed Thursday that he would not play in Saturday’s spring game.

Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said he talked to Georgia’s training staff Thursday and was told that King’s knee injury was not severe and nothing that should cause a long-term problem.

“I talked to (trainer) Ron Courson about that and he thinks he’s going to be fine,” Bobo said. “It’s just an issue of some swelling and more precautionary for now.”

Meanwhile, fans aren’t likely to get their first glimpse of last year’s starting running back at his new position on Saturday either. Richard Samuel, who moved from running back to inside linebacker this spring, spent Thursday’s practice session on the sideline, and Richt said Samuel was questionable for Saturday.

Still, defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said Samuel remains in the plans for this fall.

“We’re working to progress Richard Samuel, because he does show up as far as his ability to run and chase and we’re trying to work with him to see if we can find a role for him as we move forward,” Grantham said.

Wide receiver Israel Troupe won’t be ready for G-Day either after suffering a concussion last week, but fellow receiver Marlon Brown did make a return to the practice field on Thursday, ditching his green jersey for the first time in weeks. That’s good news for Georgia’s offense, particularly given the progress Brown appears to have made despite the injury.

“When he was out there, we were definitely pleased with what we saw,” Bobo said. “The last couple days he’s been out there able to run routes, even though he’s been in a green jersey. Marlon’s coming along. He’s smoothing out his ability to run routes, get in and out of cuts. He just looks more fluid.”

NEW D HELPS RECEIVERS

It’s not easy to find ways for A.J. Green to improve his game. The two-time All-SEC receiver has managed to make strides this spring, however, and his position coach says a good bit of that credit can go to new defensive backs coach Scott Lakatos.

“Understanding what the defense is doing, you can’t study that enough,” receivers coach Tony Ball said of Green’s growth. “And especially with all the things he’s seeing right now. The new defensive staff is showing him a lot of variations of coverages and coverage techniques. We’re all really having to learn and grow because of that.”

Ball said the new-look defense has forced the entire offense to rethink some of their fundamentals, and that’s a good thing.

“It forces us as coaches to look at what we’re doing and tweak what we’re doing from a technique perspective, and it forces players to get better at attacking what they see,” Ball said. “It has helped us all, and you expect that when you have change.”

WELCOME BACK, BRUCE

Sitting out all of last season with a medical redshirt, tight end Bruce Figgins couldn’t do much other than help his teammates. In his coach’s eyes, however, that was no small achievement.

“I’ve been very proud of him,” tight ends coach John Lilly said. “Even last year when he redshirted, he would stay after practice and try to help Orson (Charles) and Arthur Lynch. He helped them a tremendous amount.”

Now that Figgins is healthy once again, Lilly said the junior from Columbus is showing he’s ready to make the same kinds of strides he aided his younger teammates in making a year ago.

“He’s in a position where he’s got another light in his eye because now he’s back out there,” Lilly said. “Last year was a difficult year for him, but he’s ready to go back at it again. He’s performed really well this spring in terms of his focus and his enthusiasm about things, and if he can continue that, there’s definitely a place for him in the fall.”

Video Blog: Figgins Talks Tight Ends

Georgia tight end Bruce Figgins wasn't out on the field last year, but he got an up-close-and-personal view of his fellow tight ends. In this video, he gives an update of the progress his unit -- and rising sophomores Arthur Lynch and Orson Charles -- have made since the end of the season.



(*Video courtesy of Brandon Spoon.)

Practice Notes: Dawgs Look to Jump Start Running Game

There have been plenty of problems on offense in the past three games for Georgia, but the biggest stumbling block has been the team’s inability to run the football.

Against Tennessee last week, the Bulldogs mustered just 89 yards rushing – more than half of which came in the fourth quarter after the Volunteers had the game well in hand – and for the season, their ground game ranks 104th in the country.

With those kinds of numbers, quarterback Joe Cox said, getting the rest of the offense to click can be a difficult task.

“It is tough just because a lot of people feel that they can just come at us when we’re in passing situations, especially once you get down,” Cox said. “It’s tough when you feel like you’ve become one-dimensional and we definitely need to pick up our running game.”

Turning around the moribund rushing attack has been a mystery to Georgia’s coaches so far. In six games, five different players have tallied the day’s longest run, and while Richard Samuel has started each game, Georgia has relied heavily on four different runners already.

“No one has really stood out. No one has really asserted himself to the point where he’s our guy,” head coach Mark Richt said. “No one really has made the offensive line look better than maybe they are blocking at times. We have pretty much been getting what we’ve been blocking for, which statistically hasn’t been a whole heck of a lot.”

Samuel will get another shot this week to prove he can handle the load, but Richt said he doesn’t expect anyone to get a bulk of the work. Still, of all the backs, Samuel has met with the most consistent success – even if that hasn’t been much.

“His deal is confidence,” offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. “Coming into this year, he had a lot of expectations on him, and he kind of takes everything to heart sometimes when he doesn’t have success. But we think he’s a talented back, and we think he’s got to help us in the run game for us to be successful.”

For any of Georgia’s backs to be successful, however, the blocking up front needs to improve. While the Bulldogs’ offensive line has been reshuffled due to injuries since the start of the year, Bobo said the bottom line remains attitude.

“We need to play with more passion up front, we need to finish blocks and we need to have a sense of urgency when we’re running the football,” Bobo said. “That’s offensive linemen, that’s tight ends and that’s running backs. You’ve got to take pride in it, and you’ve got to play hard and physical.”

While there haven’t been many highlights, there have been glimpses of what the tailbacks and the line can do when everything clicks into place this season, highlighted by an 80-yard run for Samuel against Arkansas.

That’s what has been so maddening, Cox said, but it also offers some hope for improvement down the line.

“That’s probably been the most frustrating thing is that we know it’s there but it hasn’t been working,” Cox said. “It’s something that we got to just keep chipping away at. We know we have good backs, we know we have a good line and we just got to get it going so we know we can do it.”

FIGGINS TAKES REDSHIRT

Junior tight end Bruce Figgins missed the first six games of the season following a suspension for a violation of team rules, but he decided this week that he’ll instead sit out the entire season.

Figgins underwent offseason shoulder surgery, but he said the redshirt decision was based on more than health. Having already missed half the season, Figgins decided it was best to finish his rehabilitation and start with a clean slate in 2010.

“There’s pros and cons to either, but Coach Richt came to the conclusion that I should take a red shirt and we’re rolling with that, and I’m looking forward to next year,” Figgins said.

While the decision was ultimately Figgins’, he said he got input from family, friends and his coaches before signing off on the plan. He said the success of freshman Orson Charles and sophomore Aron White at tight end this season didn’t factor into his final decision.

“The coaches put in their input, but I was the last to decide,” Figgins said. “I was the last say so.”

KIDS TO SEE MORE ACTION

With Georgia’s hopes of a conference title nearly vanished, Richt said he isn’t giving up on the season, but he may give some of the younger players a chance to see a bit more action.

Richt said redshirt freshman Baccari Rambo will see an increase in his playing time at safety, establishing a three-man rotation with Bryan Evans and Reshad Jones.

Freshman Branden Smith should see more work at corner, too, spelling senior Prince Miller.

Richt said his two freshman receivers, Marlon Brown and Rantavious Wooten had earned more playing time, too, following Brown’s first significant action of the season last week.

“Marlon is smoothing out his game, I guess is the best way to put it,” Richt said. “He is a talent, he just needed to get more reps to become a smooth competitor, a smooth receiver. He has proved to be a pretty tenacious blocker. You can tell he wants it, you can tell he’s getting better. He has earned a right to play more snaps for us and hopefully he’ll get more opportunities to catch the ball because he has good hands.”

INJURY UPDATES

Tavarres King and Caleb King each returned to limited practice Tuesday after both missed last week’s game with concussions.

Caleb King figures to be in the mix at tailback, where Bobo said there will be an open competition for carries this week.

Tavarres King expects to step back into his role as the team’s starting receiver opposite A.J. Green. King’s absence last week left Georgia with just five healthy receivers, and watching his offense struggle without him was difficult, he said.

“It hurt really bad watching my teammates and wanting to be out there,” he said.
While neither player participated in contact drills Tuesday, Tavarres King said he’s on track to play against Vanderbilt.

“I did everything that I could, just limited contact,” he said. “I expect to play.”

Cornerback Vance Cuff saw limited action last week following a knee injury, but Richt said he should get in a full week of practice this week and is in line for an increased role on defense against the Commodores.

Linebackers Akeem Dent and Marcus Dowtin are both unlikely to play this week, Richt said. Both are expected back after the team’s off week.

DAWGS DON’T DO DOME

After some speculation earlier this month that Georgia could move its annual matchup against in-state rival Georgia Tech to the Georgia Dome for the 2011 season opener, athletics director Damon Evans said Tuesday that the school had decided against the plan.

“After careful consideration, we did not think in the final analysis it was in the best interest of our football program to play the game as a season opener in 2011,” Evans said. “I think the most significant factor was that we did not want to give up the home game that year and make a change in the current home game rotation with Georgia Tech.”

SHADES OF GRAY?

With Cox struggling in his past three games, Richt said there was a chance backup quarterback Logan Gray could see more work in the coming weeks.

Richt was quick to endorse Cox as his starter, but he wouldn’t rule out handing a series or two to Gray as a change of pace.

“He’s been practicing well the past two weeks, I know that,” Richt said. “I wouldn’t say that’s out of the question.”

Gray ran Georgia’s offense on its final two drives against Tennessee, completing just 1-of-4 passes for six yards. The Bulldogs did have their most success running the football when Gray was in the game, however.

“Logan’s done a nice job,” Bobo said. “He’s done an extremely good job getting better as a quarterback. I think he’s ready if he gets into the game. Obviously if we continue to struggle, he could be something that could spark our offense.”

REPEAT PERFORMANCE

Georgia doesn't have to look too far into the past to find a template for how the rest of its season could unfold.

The Bulldogs were 5-4 following four losses in five games 2006, but rebounded to beat three straight ranked teams, including a Chick-fil-A Bowl victory over Virginia Tech.

While a turnaround of that magnitude may still be a long way off, Cox said the team may actually be in better shape to accomplish the feat this season.

“I think our unity is better than 2006, and I think we could end up having a better season than 2006, but as far as hitting a tough stretch and how everything is around you, it’s about the same," Cox said. "People around here are used to winning. We’ve had some really successful teams the past nine years, and people expect us to win every game. We do, too. And when it doesn’t happen, everybody’s mad, including us. It’s something that does remind me of 2006, but it’s something we can definitely get turned around and have a successful season.”

The key to the improvement down the stretch in 2006 was tenacity, Richt said. While demands for immediate changes to the coaching staff and player personnel by fans followed the Bulldogs' most recent defeat at Tennssee, Richt said the dedication of his coaches and players will be the turning point in whether the Bulldogs can rebound this season.

“It’s hard to measure a team’s ability to withstand pressure," he said. "I think a lot of teams fold under that kind of pressure. A lot of coaching staffs fold under that kind of pressure and we never did. We were very resilient. We were very persistent. We stayed the course. We didn’t make a bunch of wholesale changes, whether it was players, coaches or anything like that. We just kept grinding, we kept banging away. You just never know how close you are to success until you live it out."

EXTRA POINTS

-- I know I said I'd have some commentary from Rennie Curran on the defensive effort, but it turned out to be a little more than a note. I'll have the full text tomorrow.

A few notes on the basketball teams from today's preseason news conference:

-- Travis Leslie is cleared to play this season, according to coach Mark Fox. Leslie missed the tail end of last season for academic reasons.

-- Albert Jackson is wearing a cast to protect an injured finger, but Fox said he'll be ready to practice when camp opens Friday.

-- Ricky McPhee was given a scholarship for his senior season, as was Tyler Whatley.

-- Dustin Ware on Trey Thompkins: "Trey is looking like he’s just ready to be a monster this year. He came back and I almost didn’t recognize him his body looked so good."

-- On the women's side, Angel Robinson had to have her knee scoped, but Andy Landers said she should be ready to practice fully before the season begins.

-- Landers also said he expects all seven of his freshmen to play significantly this season.

Practice Notes: Two Kings With Concussions

Georgia’s already thin wide receiver corps took another big hit this week.

Head coach Mark Richt said freshman receiver Tavarres King was “very unlikely” to make the trip to Tennessee for Saturday’s game after suffering a concussion last week against LSU.

That leaves Georgia with just five healthy scholarship receivers, but only two – A.J. Green and Michael Moore – have any significant playing time this season.

“All hands will be on deck, I can say that,” Richt said.

Tight end Orson Charles and cornerback Branden Smith have both been used in wide receiver roles at various times this season, but the injury to King likely means more playing time for sophomore Israel Troupe and freshmen Rantavious Wooten and Marlon Brown.

One of the country’s most highly recruited receivers last year, Brown has seen just a handful of snaps so far this season and has not caught a pass, but Richt said he has continued to make progress during practice and could be part of the game plan this week.

“He’s one step closer than he was before Tavarres getting hurt,” Richt said. “He’s not a whole lot different than what was happening with Washaun Ealey. We kept getting him ready and getting him to the point where he could function in a game, and Marlon is rapidly moving in that direction.”

Playing time would be particularly rewarding for Brown this week, as the Memphis native would have a chance to play in front of his home-state fans against a program that was in hot pursuit of him during the recruiting process.

That extra bit of pressure doesn’t worry offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, however.

“He’s an even-keeled kid who works hard,” Bobo said. “I think he’s got the right attitude and he’ll be successful if he keeps that attitude.”

King has 10 catches for 170 yards and a touchdown in five games this season. Wooten has two catches, and Brown and Troupe have yet to record a reception in 2009.

PULLED IN ALL DIRECTIONS

After working a few snaps on offense in each of Georgia’s first four games, Smith might see less action on that side of the ball for the next few weeks.

Smith, who has one catch for 3 yards and six rushes for 80 yards this season, didn’t earn a touch on offense last week against LSU after his practice time with the group was cut short during the preceding week.

“With some injuries at corner, he’s been playing more corner here lately, so practice time with Branden has gone down a little bit,” Bobo said. “Yeah, it’s easy to draw up a play and say we’re going to do this play, but if you don’t have guys to practice it, it’s a little more difficult.”

The same situation holds true with backup quarterback Logan Gray, who Bobo said has been avoided in the game plan because of an injury to third-string quarterback Aaron Murray.

“You have Aaron Murray out and your backup in the game running some plays, if you get him hurt, that puts you in a situation where you really don’t have a back-up quarterback,” Bobo said. “So that changes your thought process a little bit of what you’re going to do offensively with Logan Gray.”

Despite the apparent limitations on two of Georgia’s change-of-pace weapons, Bobo said both Gray and Smith will continue to have a role in the playbook.

“There’ll always be a few plays with (Smith) in the game plan and with Logan,” Bobo said. “But it just depends on what we feel gives us the best chance.”

MORE INJURY NEWS

Tailback Caleb King also suffered a concussion and a broken jaw after a hit during last week’s game, and Richt said he was almost certain that sophomore Richard Samuel would get the start this week.

Linebackers Marcus Dowtin and Akeem Dent will miss this week’s game as well. Dent is still recovering from a lingering hamstring injury that has kept him out of the past two games, and Dowtin underwent surgery on a torn ligament in his left ring finger on Sunday.

Senior Marcus Washington and sophomore Nick Williams will likely handle the majority of the reps Dent and Dowtin would have played, but Richt said there was a chance some of the younger linebackers such as Christian Robinson, Akeem Hebron and Charles White could see action, too.

“We’ve been repping them all along and giving them as much work as we can, and more than likely they’ll get more opportunity in the game than they have,” Richt said.

DOUBLE DUTY

While Gray may not be seeing much action at quarterback so far this season, he’s getting plenty of work on special teams. Gray has worked on Georgia’s kickoff coverage unit and has been the team’s primary punt returner in situations where a fair catch is likely.

Those were roles Gray played last season, but he said he wasn’t expecting another year of action. But he’s not complaining.

“I think it comes with being the backup quarterback, I wasn’t going to do as many special teams,” Gray said. “Coming into the season, I didn’t even think I was going to catch punts. It was sort of a last-second thing with our punt safe team when we know a fair catch is coming, I guess Coach (Jon) Fabris wanted me to keep doing it.”

MY BAD, GUYS

Brandon Boykin is used to celebrating interceptions, but after making his second pick of the season to halt a potential touchdown drive against LSU, the sophomore cornerback immediately knew he had messed up.

With the Tigers driving deep into Georgia territory in the first quarter, Boykin picked off a Jordan Jefferson pass in the end zone. Rather than settle for a touchback, however, Boykin attempted to return the interception. He was tackled at the 2-yard line, and Georgia's offense was unable to sustain a drive. The result was bad field position for much of the fist half for the Bulldogs.

"That was my fault," Boykin said. "It wasn’t very smart of me to take that out. I was just trying to make a play, and initially I thought there was daylight, but there wasn’t. The smart thing to do would have been to take a knee and give my offense great field position. But I can’t look at that. If I get the opportunity to take it in the end zone, I definitely will take a knee, so it was a learning experience and I’ll get better from it.”

CHANGE BREWING?

For the second straight year, Georgia's kickoffs have been an adventure, but this season there is one big difference: Richt has an alternative to kicker Blair Walsh.

The Bulldogs signed junior college transfer Brandon Bogotay during the offseason to push Walsh for the kickoff job, and while a change hasn't come yet, Richt said the team has given some thought to handing the job to Bogotay if Walsh continues to struggle.

"It's been considered," Richt said. "We haven't done it to this point, but everybody's got to perform and certainly we want Blair to do that. I definitely don't want to throw him under the bus for all the issues on that team, but it's been part of the issue, not getting it where we need to get it. The ball placement hasn't been as sharp."

EXTRA POINTS

-- I noted this last week, but Bobo was a bit more emphatic in his pronouncement this week -- quarterbacks Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger will both redshirt, barring an injury to one of Georgia's top two quarterbacks.

-- Tight ends coach John Lilly said that there still has been no decision on whether tight end Bruce Figgins will accept a medical redshirt for this season. Figgins will be serving the sixth and final game of a suspension this week and would be eligible to return to action against Vanderbilt on Oct. 17. Lilly said the ultimate decision on whether to play would be up to Figgins.

-- Richt on today's practice session: "I thought today's practice was good. I thought the guys played with good tempo, good focus. Overall it's been a really good Tuesday and Wednesday. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. We're going to go over to the stadium and crank the noise and try to get it so loud we can't hear. Hopefully we don't blow a speaker."

UGA Notes: Shakeups in the Secondary

After spraining his MCL during last week’s win over Arkansas, head coach Mark Richt said it’s doubtful that cornerback Vance Cuff will be ready to play against Arizona State on Saturday.

“Cuff is doubtful,” Richt said. “He could turn around some between now and the game and because it’s a home game – if it was an away game he probably wouldn’t be on the plane. But we’re at home and if he feels good enough he could probably help us in an emergency.”

Cuff was Georgia’s top option off the bench in nickel situations, but that job will now fall to a combination of players.

Richt said Sanders Commings, who had been working at safety, will get some action at corner this week. While Prince Miller is generally the nickel back, Richt said the senior could stay at wide corner and Makiri Pugh could see increased action at nickel, too.

The most likely option, however, will be for freshman Branden Smith to get more work at corner with Cuff missing the game. While Richt said Smith isn’t exactly polished yet in terms of his defensive aptitude, the work he’ll get this week could prove important down the line.

“(Smith) is getting better at it as (he) goes,” Richt said. “He’s still young and got a lot of things to learn, and you just have to experience some things before you can really get good at them. I’m sure he’ll get that – he’ll get more experience.”

Defensive coordinator Willie Martinez also said he expects freshman Baccari Rambo to see increased playing time at safety this week, spelling Bryan Evans and Reshad Jones.

BACK IN ACTION

Through three games, Georgia’s tight ends have eight receptions – just two shy of last year’s total at the position. Aron White and Orson Charles each had touchdowns last week in a win over Arkansas, which puts the unit just one short of matching its total from 2008.

The bottom line is the position has become an offensive weapon once again for the Bulldogs, and a lot has to do with the impressive performance of the Bulldogs’ top receiver – A.J. Green.

“The presence of A.J. Green has helped that spot get favorable coverages, but they’re making plays, and that’s what we were hoping,” Richt said.

Charles has been the offense’s second-best weapon in the passing game this season, catching six passes for 146 yards thus far. The freshman’s blocking game, however, remains a work in progress.

“Certain blocks are easier for a guy his size, certain blocks he can get away with on just effort and technique,” Richt said. “But there’s some blocks that just take a certain amount of strength, and he’s still struggling some on those. If he doesn’t do it just right, he can get knocked back a little bit, but he’s getting there.”

FIGGINS’ FUTURE UP IN THE AIR

Georgia tight end Bruce Figgins still has three more games remaining on his six-game suspension, but Richt said the team hasn’t determined yet if Figgins will see any action this season at all.

The junior from Shaw High School underwent offseason shoulder surgery and missed spring practice. The injury is getting closer to being fully healed, but given that Figgins has already missed so much action, Richt said there was a possibility he would take a medical redshirt for the season.

“That has really not been determined at this point,” Richt said. “I think a lot will have to do with just where we are and where everybody is at that time.”

If Figgins should sit out the year, Richt said the Georgia Athletics Association has already determined that he would not have to miss additional playing time next year due to the suspension.

“Our association has decided that sitting out the entire year would serve as the discipline for that,” Richt said.

BANKS OUT AGAIN

Richt said safety Quintin Banks would not play this week against Arizona State as he continues to recover from a knee injury that cost him much of the preseason.

“He’s still trying to get back to where he can really run and change direction like he needs to to have a positive performance,” Richt said. “He’s still not there yet.”

A series of injuries, including an offseason surgery on his knee, has kept Banks on the sidelines for much of the past two seasons. It’s frustrating, Richt said, but he has been pleased with how upbeat Banks has remained.

“He’s an awesome kid, he’s always trying to keep a positive attitude, and he’s always trying to motivate his teammates even when he’s down and out as far as practicing,” Richt said. “It just hasn’t worked out for him like he would hope, but we’re all still holding out hope that it will for him.”

THE WAITING GAME

The hot rumor during the offseason was that Georgia would find ways to use backup quarterback Logan Gray as a weapon on offense – even if he wasn’t going to be the team’s starting quarterback. With Gray’s speed and athleticism, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said he thought the sophomore could be a perfect option in a “Wild Cat” formation.

As it turns out, however, Gray has been in on offense for just two snaps so far this season and didn’t see any action last week against Arkansas.

That’s not because Georgia has abandon its plans for Gray, however. With starter Joe Cox playing so well, and the Bulldogs playing in three close games so far, it’s simply a matter of not having opportunities to give Gray much playing time so far.

“It hasn’t really presented itself in a game,” Bobo said. “Every game there’s a plan for certain situations for guys to go in there, but Joe has done such a nice job in the last two games that you don’t want to break his rhythm or what we’re doing offensively.”

PENALTY PROBLEM

Georgia is once again among the most penalized teams in the country, and while Richt was hoping to avoid a significant crackdown following a 13-flag performance in Week 2, Bobo said the team’s problems against Arkansas are clearly a cause for concern.

Georgia racked up 14 penalties in last week’s win over the Razorbacks, including six false starts and three holding calls. While some flags are simply a matter of teams playing aggressive, Bobo said the Buldogs’ recent efforts show a lack of fundamentals.

“We talked about being more disciplined and focused, little things we talk about all the time that will get you beat,” Bobo said. “It’s not something that we want to see as a coaching staff, and usually it derails an offense of being able to execute and be successful. It’s something we’ve been harping on a little more this week.”

While the flags aren’t exactly something Bobo is celebrating, he said he is encouraged by how well his team responded, racking up 530 yards of offense despite the penalties last week. But while that’s an good sign, he said that type of success can’t last forever.

“We’re not going to be able to do that on a consistent basis,” Bobo said. “So that’s why we’ve got to try to keep preaching to those guys about good habits and good fundamentals and not losing their focus on things like the snap count, which is really inexcusable.”

Practice Notes: King Questionable For Week 1

When it happened, Mark Richt called it a 7-to-10-day injury, but 17 days after his last practice, Caleb King still isn't close to returning to work and could be in danger of missing Georgia's first game of the season against Oklahoma State.

Richt said he watched King run the sidelines during practice Friday, but couldn't speculate as to when the sophomore tailback might be healthy enough to return from a sore hamstring that has sidelined him for the majority of the preseason and kept him out of the competition for the starting tailback job that now appears to belong to Richard Samuel.

"You just can't predict hamstrings," Richt said. "We're hopeful that he's ready to practice early next week, but I don't know how he's going to feel."

Georgia has just three full-contact practices left before departing for Oklahoma State, which means the pressure is on for King to prove he's healthy enough to play in the game.

Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said King would likely need to fully participate in a practice no later than Tuesday if the tailback was going to be part of Georgia's game plan against the Cowboys.

"I don't have a definite timeline because you never know what's going to happen with your other guys, but Monday and Tuesday are going to be the bulk of the work days next week," Bobo said. "I'd definitely like to have him out there Monday, and Tuesday at the latest."

Georgia is likely to bring only about 70 players to Stillwater, Okla. for the game, making each seat on the plane a valuable one, Richt said. Whether one of those seats belongs to King or not will ultimately be decided by the potential impact the coaches feel he can have in the game.

"We're not taking anybody on the plane unless we think they can play in that game and help us win," Richt said. "So if we don't think he has any chance of playing, he won't go. If we think he's got a chance of playing, he'll be on the plane, and if we need him, we'll put him in."

WALK-ON MOVES UP

With King potentially out of the lineup, former Dodge County tailback Kalvin Daniels has worked his way up to the No. 3 spot on Georgia's tailback depth chart.

"Kalvin's done a really fine job," Richt said. "He had a good spring, he's had a good fall, and he's really done an outstanding job. Right now he would be our No. 3 if Caleb is not capable to go."

Samuel and redshirt freshman Carlton Thomas are likely to be Georgia's top two runners against Oklahoma State. Freshman Washaun Ealey was also in the mix for carries this preseason, but a hyperextended elbow hindered his progress, and at this point he's not in line to see much action.

"I talked to Washaun today about keep banging, keep competing," Richt said. "Sometimes kids will look at that depth chart and think you have no chance, but two weeks later, you might be it. I just wanted to remind him that, don't count yourself out because things can change in a hurry."

Despite the advice, Richt said he won't burn a potential redshirt for Ealey simply to allow the tailback to work on special teams in Week 1.

DAVIS SPRAINS ANKLE

After Ben Jones went down with a sprained ankle last week, junior Chris Davis moved over to handle reps at center for the Bulldogs' offensive line, but that plan hit a speed bump this week, too.

Davis suffered an ankle sprain, too, and was wearing a protective boot for practice Friday. Richt said Davis was day-to-day and said the lineman could return to work Monday.

"He may do scout team only Monday, but that's how we phase guys in off an injury like that," Richt said. "We think he'll be ready."

Jones didn't practice again Friday, but he was jogging the sidelines and appeared to be moving well.

Still, with two projected starters missing time, Bobo said finding continuity on the offensive line remained a concern as Georgia readies for the season opener.

"Guys have got to practice together, make calls together and be on the same page," Bobo said. "The only positive is that the guys who are out there do have experience. But getting those guys healthy and getting them ready to play in the first game is definitely a concern."

UNLIKELY APPEARANCE

Bobo isn't expecting a runaway victory for the Bulldogs in Stillwater, but even if Georgia's up big in the fourth quarter, he said fans shouldn't expect to get an early look at either of the team's freshman quarterbacks.

Zach Mettenberger and Aaron Murray were both hoping to land the No. 2 spot on the depth chart during the preseason, but that hasn't happened so far, and Bobo isn't going to risk burning a redshirt for either player to get them a few snaps in mop-up duty.

"We still have a few more days of practice before we finalize that decision," Bobo said, "but right now neither one of them would play."

FIGGINS STAYS FOCUSED

Thanks to a suspension, junior Bruce Figgins won't see the field until Week 7 against Vanderbilt at the earliest, but his coach, John Lilly, said that hasn't altered the tight end's mind-set this preseason.

"I've been really proud of Bruce," Lilly said. "I think he's worked extremely hard and tried to help the young guys along, which shows a lot of maturity on his part. I think he's responded very well at this stage, but now here comes the tough part because the games start being played, and I know that's going to be difficult for him."

Figgins earned a six-game suspension for an unnamed violation of team rules in April, but he's also working his way back from offseason shoulder surgery that held him out of spring practice. Lilly said Figgins still isn't 100 percent, and there's a chance the team could decide to redshirt the tight end for the entire season.

"We're preparing him to be ready to go when that time comes, but with some injuries and trying to rehab his shoulder and things like that, if they're not responding well, that still could become a concern down the line," Lilly said. "Right now, he's mentally preparing to play and we're trying to have him physically ready to play."

PLAYING IT COY

Joe Cox knows Georgia's offense so well, it's not hard for Bobo to forget that he hasn't started a game in nearly three years.

"Sometimes as a coach, I have to realize that he's not a fifth-year starter, he's just a fifth-year senior," Bobo said. "It seems like he's been starting forever because he knows everything."

Despite Cox's intimate understanding of the playbook, Bobo said he has tried to remain cautious with what he asks of his starting quarterback.

"As a coach, you can't take things for granted just because he knows everything in the film room but hasn't experienced it in live action," Bobo said. "So you've just got to be real diligent and make sure that we're covering everything with him. He's doing a great job of preparing extra."

For months, Richt has been pretty open that Cox would have all the same leeway to change plays at the line of scrimmage that Matthew Stafford enjoyed last season, but Bobo wasn't ready to reveal any information on Cox's job description just yet.

"You'll have to wait and see on that one," he said.

AH, MEMORIES

There's no doubt a distinction between the type of offense played in the Big XII and the SEC, but Richt said he knows a thing or two about the style he can expect from Oklahoma State when the Bulldogs open the season in Stillwater next Saturday.

"It reminds me of the style of ball we played when we had Charlie Ward at Florida State – the spread, manipulating the pace of the game, fast-slow, getting guys in space, making plays, trying to wear people out by putting points on the board rather than trying to punch you in the mouth every time," Richt said.

Big XII teams are credited with a much more wide-open offensive style based around speed and finesse, but Richt did caution that there was more to Oklahoma State than the typical spread offense.

"I will say that Oklahoma State does a really fantastic job of the balance that most coaches are looking for," Richt said. "They will run the ball – and they run it from the spread, but you can run it from the spread with a physical nature and they do that."

BAD REVIEWS

After dissecting the film from Wednesday's practice game, Richt said he was a bit more encouraged by the team's performance, but there were still too many problems for him to dub it a success.

Defensively, he said the Bulldogs looked sharp, but the scout team's offensive line was so weak it was hard to get a good gauge of the first-team defensive backs.

"Because our second unit can't protect well enough against our first defense, it's just tough to find out what our holes are on the perimeter, if in fact they're there," Richt said.

On offense, the majority of the reps looked good, but missed opportunities are under a much bigger microscope during those scrimmages, he said.

"You play a half, and you don't have a lot of opportunities, so even if you lose one drive because of a penalty, it's just disappointing, and we did have one of those," Richt said. "It was better after watching the film as I felt like coming off, but it still wasn't as sharp as I would like."

GOOD REVIEWS

The weather was a bit cooler and the rain held off, and Georgia's players responded with an encouraging day of work on the practice field Friday.

"They had a lot of energy today," Richt said. "I really like the way they practiced. I saw real good focus. They just looked good today. They gave me a good feeling."

MORE TO COME

Saturday's practice won't be an official scrimmage – Georgia has just three of those during the preseason, with the last coming this past Wednesday – but Richt said his team will go through many of the same motions as a scrimmage in order to tie up a few loose ends before taking on Oklahoma State.

"We'll do everything but tackle to the ground," Richt said. "We're going to do more team substituting, kickoff, defense, punt return and block. There will be some short-yardage, goal line, and we'll go a few plays live, but just a few."

Richt said the work will be designed mostly to iron out some flaws he saw during the team's practice game against the scout team and to get in a bit more reps on plays coaches didn't get to see enough of during the past week.

"We're actually ramping it up just a tad by scrimmaging the short-yardage and goal line plays," he said. "It'll look a lot like our practice game scrimmage, but it'll be a lot more scripted. We've scripted what we think we need to see that we haven't seen. But it's still going to be played like a game, just without the tackling."

MORE INJURY NOTES

Linebacker Akeem Dent missed another practice with a sore hamstring, but Richt said he appeared healthy and should be back at practice early next week.

"I happened to see Akeem running and changing direction," Richt said. "I saw him doing some things that made me feel he was getting close."

Marcus Dowtin and Richard Samuel both were in green, non-contact jerseys Friday, too, but each was participating in drills with their respective positions.

Safety Quintin Banks will miss the opening game with a knee injury, but Richt said that he's hopeful the rest of the Bulldogs' roster will be ready for action by next Saturday.

"We're still hopeful on everybody else other than the guys we know of with season-ending injuries," he said.

A Painful Reminder

Rennie Curran spent most of the early offseason reminding his teammates how important it was to avoid off-field problems this year. Dozens of teammates repeated a similar mantra.

But for all the talk, the axe still fell last month when defensive end Justin Houston and tight end Bruce Figgins were suspended for violations of team rules -- Houston for two games, Figgins for six.

Rather than lament the losses, however, Curran said he's tried to use the suspensions as a refresher course for the rest of the team. Even with all the reminders earlier this offseason, trouble still found its way into the locker room. The pressure to remain dedicated to the cause was turned up another notch.

"We know how hard we worked as a team this offseason, having mat drills and coming through the spring, having guys make awesome strides during this offseason," Curran said. "It's just disheartening to see somebody make a mistake when they know they have so much to lose. But at the same time you have to continue to motivate the guys and encourage them and continue to let them know that we're all in this together, that you've got to stay out of trouble and that you're not invisible to the public."

While the disappointment was significant, Curran said, the rest of the team has handled the situation as well as could be expected.

For one, other players are stepping up and volunteering to take on some of the load their suspended teammates leave behind.

"Houston's out because of some slight things that happened, and we have guys in our unit that have the capability to step up and make plays," defensive end Demarcus Dobbs said. "All I'm trying to do is just make up some of the slack, and just do as much as I can."

"I didn't need somebody to get suspended to know that I'm going to step up to the challenge," freshman tight end Orson Charles said. "I have my own mind-set from the get-go that I just want to make everybody better around me. I just want to win."

The suspensions were a challenge to the rest of the roster and a reminder of just how careful everyone needs to be, but they can't serve as a distraction from the task at hand.

"The player reaction was that we've got to keep moving on," offensive lineman Vince Vance said. "Things happen, but we've got to let those players that it's not the downfall of their careers. But we also have to keep everyone on the right track."

From the Mailbag: Tight End Toss-Up

So far this week I've been posting the responses from Mark Richt and Mark Fox to questions from you guys. Today's question comes from another anonymous commenter (this time, I'm assuming it's from former Atlanta Brave Pascual Perez): Do you believe that the two incoming freshman TEs are physically ready to mix it up inside early in the season, or should we expect to see a good amount of Bryce Ros on running downs and two TE sets until Figgins returns from suspension?

This really is the big question when it comes to the tight ends. There's no doubt that between Arthur Lynch, Orson Charles and Aron White, Georgia has some serious talent in the passing game. But who blocks?

First, let's dispense with the Bryce Ros talk. Ros has made a little progress, but that's about it so far. He's picking up on the details, but he has yet to prove he can take that knowledge and turn it into success on the field. That may happen at some point this season, but he's still a bit of a mystery.

"Bryce is getting his first real chance – even in the preseason last year and bowl practice, he would get some reps but as far as really having a chance to show what he can do and to learn," tight ends coach John Lilly said. "His answers to questions and those things are starting to come together. Now can he take what he knows and take it on to the field."

Of course, it's not an in-depth knowledge of the playbook and an ability to dodge defenders that is the main concern this year. It's blocking. UGA's offensive line should be improved, but with Bruce Figgins -- the Bulldogs' top blocking tight end -- out for the first six games, and a group of inexperienced tailbacks, all of whom have had problems in the blocking game in the past, in the backfield, that O line might not be getting much help.

The first option, ideally, will be Aron White, who got some nice experience down the stretch last season and was the only tight end to play significantly in spring practice.

"He really had a fine spring," Mark Richt said of White. "He runs good routes, he's got good hands, he's playing with energy. There's no question in my mind he'll be productive for us this year. We're going to let everybody compete. But he's shown me enough as a route runner and a ball catcher and a guy who is smart and serious about getting better."

Those things are great, but what about the blocking? That's been the knock on White since he arrived, mostly due to his size. At just 6-foot-4, 235, White is big -- just not that big. So while he's technically sound in the blocking game, he simply doesn't have the brawn to win every battle.

"He has his moments where he does great, but most of the time, he's just battling his tail off," Richt said. "But that's OK because if you're tenacious enough and you put your hat in the right spot and you're good fundamentally, you can be a good blocker. You don't have to just lift them up and roll them. He's ready to play Southeastern Conference football right now."

But what about the two fresh faces? Are they ready for SEC football?

Arthur Lynch looks to be the obvious answer in the blocking game, as he looks the part of the prototypical tight end more than anyone else on the roster. At 6-foot-5, 245, Lynch played in a more traditional tight end formation more often in high school and coaches have complimented his blocking skills even before he has practiced at Georgia. But there's a big difference between stopping rushers in high school and doing it in the SEC.

Orson Charles looks like he could be one of Georgia's most impactful freshmen, but most outside observers are expecting far more production in the passing game -- where Charles dominated in high school as a hybrid tight end, often lining up in the slot -- rather than establishing himself as a top blocker. Lilly isn't necessarily convinced that's the case.

"The big thing with him, it's like people look at Bruce is a blocker and Aron's a receiver, and they look at Artie and Orson the same way," Lilly said. "But Orson's a better blocker than people give him credit for and I think Artie's probably a better pass receiver than people give him credit for."

The bottom line, however, is that someone -- and possibly several someones -- will have to step up and handle those blocking duties, and at this point, even the coaches don't know who it will be. But, Richt said, he's happy he at least has a couple strong candidates to choose from.

"It's doubtful right now in my mind that either one of (Charles or Lynch) would redshirt," Richt said. "Not that we're predicting anyone will, but I would think both those guys have a great opportunity to play this year."

Charles Ready to Step In

Orson Charles was among the last recruits to sign this year, but few members of Georgia's 2009 signing class have been more eager to get to work.

From phone calls with coaches and players to an extended visit to campus during his spring break to impromptu practice sessions with former high school teammate Aaron Murray in recent weeks, Charles is doing all he can to ensure he's on the field in 2009.

"I've gotten to know a majority of what goes on, so I'm getting there, but Aaron says there's much more," Charles said. "We've been going out and he's helping me with running routes, and he tells me what I'm doing wrong and I correct it and run it again."

The extra work is crucial because, while Charles always assumed he would make an impact in his first season at Georgia, his production may now be a necessity for the Bulldogs.

Charles is one of two tight ends set to join the program in June, and before he has even suited up for a single practice, his role has grown by leaps and bounds.

Georgia was already thin at wide receiver after three seniors graduated, but a season-ending injury to Kris Durham and the departure of junior Tony Wilson from the program, added to the suspension of tight end Bruce Figgins for six games, has made Charles a key component to Georgia's offensive attack in the coming season.

"I didn't need somebody to get suspended to know that I'm going to step up to the challenge," Charles said. "I have my own mind-set from the get-go that I just want to make everybody better around me. I just want to win."

Charles said he spoke with Figgins shortly after the suspension was announced and actually offered some advice to his older teammate.

"We all make bad choices," Charles said. "I just said that when you come back, you've got to go. Don't look back. You've just got to go."

That's not much different than the attitude Charles has taken to preparing for his introduction to the SEC.

Since putting away his schoolbooks at the end of his academic year, Charles has been hitting the playbook with abandon. He said he has watched film that coaches sent him and has Murray quiz him on the playbook routinely, all in an effort to ensure he not only contributes this season, but that he is part of something big.

"I don't want to wait til my sophomore or junior year to win a national championship," Charles said. "Why can't I do it my freshman year?"

Just where Charles will make the biggest impact in 2009 remains to be seen. At 6-fot-3, 220 pounds, Charles is a bit on the small side for a typical tight end, but that's not really his game. His senior season at Plant High in Tampa, Fla., he caught 75 passes for 1,440 yards and scored 24 touchdowns, often split out wide as a receiver.

Georgia's coaches have said Charles could fill several roles on the Bulldogs' offense this season, but with just six scholarship wideouts on the team, his receiving skills could prove crucial.

Still, Figgins was the Bulldogs' best blocker, and Charles knows his job won't always be catching passes, and he said that's an aspect of his game he's working on.

"That's really what I did when we had the Wing-T, and I just caught about three passes a game and the rest was blocking," Charles said. "But that's something I've got to pick up on and keep doing more work at it, but I'm fine with that."

Plenty of Questions on Georgia's Offense

With Tony Wilson gone and Bruce Figgins out for six games to start the 2009 season, things could get pretty ugly for Georgia's passing game.

How ugly?

Take away A.J. Green and Michael Moore and Georgia's offense this coming season has a career total of 27 receptions... combined!

That's not just the receiving corps either. That's everyone on the offense -- tailbacks, fullbacks, tight ends and receivers. Twenty-seven catches. And you know who the the proud owner of the plurality of those catches is? That would be fullback Shaun Chapas, who has 12 receptions in his career, not counting the time he fell down in the end zone on a wide-open TD pass from Matthew Stafford last season.

Beyond that, Moore had just five career catches coming into last season, and neither he nor Green has proven they can be viable threats without Mohamed Massaquoi, Knowshon Moreno and Stafford to help keep defenses honest. That's certainly not to say they can't be -- but it also is a bit troubling that Green will be Georgia's only offensive weapon likely to put much fear into a defense to start the season.

Even with true freshmen Marlon Brown and Rontavious Wooten coming in, Georgia will still have just six scholarship receivers on its roster in 2009 -- and while both Brown and Wooten could be impact players, neither is a sure thing. Wooten is a Carlton Thomas clone in terms of his physical presence and he still has to show he can get off the line of scrimmage against physical SEC corners. Brown looks the part of A.J. Green version 2.0, but his success in high school came against drastically inferior competition.

Figgins' loss hurts beyond just the passing game, too. There's a real chance that Orson Charles and/or Aron White can make an impact as receivers this season, but neither are prototypical blockers. Mark Richt has even noted that Charles is likely to be flexed out wide regularly and White will be primarily used in passing situations. So who does that leave to handle blocking duties? Freshman Arthur Lynch -- and that's about it.

And maybe all of this wouldn't be too troublesome if Stafford and Moreno were still spending time in Georgia's backfield, but they aren't. The tailback situation remains up for grabs -- and none of the likely contributors have shown they can handle blocking duties consistently either. Meanwhile Joe Cox is the proud owner of just one career start.

Georgia averaged 426 yards of total offense last season. The Bulldogs will be hard pressed to come anywhere near that number this year. Yes, a healthy and experienced offensive line will be a nice change of pace -- but we're also assuming that it will be healthy and experienced. Five starters -- Josh Davis, Chris Davis, Trinton Sturdivant, Ben Jones and Vince Vance -- have undergone some type of surgery in the past nine months, and until they get back into game conditions, it's hard to say for certain how they'll respond. And right now, an awful lot is riding on the assumption that Georgia's offensive line will not only be good in 2009, but great.

It's Official: Wilson, Figgins, Houston Out

From UGA Athletics...

Two University of Georgia football players will incur suspensions due to violation of team rules, according to an announcement Saturday by Bulldog head coach Mark Richt.


Junior tight end Bruce Figgins has received a six-game suspension and redshirt sophomore defensive end Justin Houston has been suspended for two games. A third player, junior wide receiver Tony Wilson, also violated team rules; however, he is in the process of being medically disqualified from competition due to slow recovery from a severe ankle injury originally suffered in the spring of 2008.


"I'm very disappointed in the poor judgment of these players," said UGA head coach Mark Richt. "They'll have to pay an appropriate price and I'm confident they will learn an important lesson from their mistake."

No Word on Suspensions

Georgia could be without three players to start the 2009 season due to suspensions, according to UGASports.com.

The Web site reported that tight end Bruce Figgins, defensive end Justin Houston and wide receiver Tony Wilson would each be suspended for an undetermined period after violating team rules.

Head coach Mark Richt would not confirm the suspensions Wednesday, however, saying in a statement through sports information director Claude Felton that "there is nothing to report" at this time.

Georgia was plagued by off-field incidents a year ago and began the 2008 season with more than a half-dozen players suspended. Things had been quiet on that front so far in 2009, with Richt noting that he was employing a stricter approach to discipline this year.

Still, Richt cautioned that these issues are likely to crop up at any program.

"We do have to remember these guys are human," Richt said last month. "These guys are being watched more closely than probably any group in the state of Georgia. There's no place to hide. So am I going to sit here and say that these guys are never going to make a mistake again? That's very unrealistic, but I think at least we’ve had a very good start and guys, as a whole, want to do the right thing. But shoot, who knows what tomorrow brings, right?"

Practice Notes: Dogs Show Less Energy

Maybe it was the two days off that proceeded Tuesday's practice. Maybe it was the grind of a second day in full pads that sapped the energy out of the players. Whatever it was, it didn't leave head coach Mark Richt particularly enthused with the performance of his team after Georgia's fifth of 15 spring practices.

"I think today was kind of luke warm," Richt said. "It didn't fire me up that much. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't championship level. The energy level wasn't quite what I'd seen to this point."

While Richt has said the defense has been significantly ahead of the offense throughout the spring thus far, he did say there was some leveling off in that competition Tuesday. During inside drills particularly, the offense looked sharper than it had before, including Saturday's first day in full pads in which Richt said the defense dominated.

There was some good news on defense Tuesday, too. Richt said the defense racked up four interceptions, including picks by Prince Miller and Reshad Jones. One unlikely defender managed to haul in an interception, too, and even returned for a touchdown.

"Geno Atkins intercepted a ball and took it to the house," Richt said. "It was only about five or six yards, but it was pretty exciting."

BACKFIELD BASICS

With Richard Samuel out of action, the competition for carries in Georgia's backfield isn't likely to be resolved before the fall no matter what, but Carlton Thomas' big spring has certainly made things a bit more intriguing.

"Carlton has done a very nice job of running the ball inside," Richt said. "He's made more people miss and broken more tackles at this point than Caleb (King) has, but Caleb is doing an outstanding job, himself."

Richt said King has a slight advantage in the blocking game due to the extra year of experience and game-day snaps he has gotten that Thomas has not. After watching both of them in practice, however, neither has shown they're ready to take over for the departed Knowshon Moreno just yet.

"We need to get both those guys quite a bit more reps in pass protection to be able to start separating them," Richt said.

While Samuel won't be fully healed from wrist surgery until June, Thomas and King are about to get a bit more competition for playing time this spring. Freshman Dontavius Jackson returned to practice Tuesday and participated in several of the team's drills. Although he technically wasn't supposed to take any hits, Richt said Jackson was knocked to the ground by accident on one play, but immediately popped back up, no worse for wear.

"He's phasing in right now, and it might be as early as next Monday (that he's back)," Richt said. "I think he'll go full before it's over."

LONG ROAD BACK

Bruce Figgins didn't have much trouble playing through the pain of a serious shoulder injury for most of last season, but sitting on the sideline while it heals is turning out to be a bit of a chore.

Figgins said his spring has consisted of little more than simple strength training workouts, and he's getting a little anxious to find his way back onto the field.

"It's real hard," Figgins said. "You try to come with a positive attitude and still try to get yourself better day by day, watching film and watching what other people do."

Figgins' progress has been slow but steady so far, and his last visit with the doctors showed that the shoulder has shown no ill effects following a season of wear and tear and surgery in January.

"I'm slowly progressing in my rehab, week by week adding on stuff trying to get it stronger," he said. "I talked with the trainers (last weekend) who said it's good, it's healed, but you don't want to rush it. You don't want to take any risks, so that's where we're at, just trying to strengthen it up."

While Figgins' workouts are limited, his growth as a player hasn't been. He said the time on the sideline has given him a fresh perspective on what his role with the team can be, and he's using the lack of on-field action as a chance to develop his game in other ways.

"This is when a lot of leadership comes in," Figgins said. "I've grown a lot from having to sit back and not being able to do anything but push other guys."

SAFETY DANCE

It appeared that there might be a close battle for the chance to replace CJ Byrd at safety this season, but defensive coordinator Willie Martinez said Tuesday he feels pretty comfortable with a starting tandem of Reshad Jones and Bryan Evans right now.

Evans shifted from cornerback to safety midway through last season, a transition Martinez said isn't usually a simple one because of the increased knowledge a safety must have of the defense, but Evans has made it look easy.

"He understands our scheme," Martinez said. "He's done a good job of paying attention to what those guys were doing even when he was playing corner."

More than just knowing his role, Richt said Evans has embraced the change. After platooning at corner for two years, Evans seems right at home and his enthusiasm about the new challenge has been evident.

"He's very excited about safety," Richt said. "He's shown as much spirit as anyone. He's high tempo, high energy. He's doing a good job and he's found a nice home."

SO FAR, SO GOOD

Figgins and Jackson are just two of nearly two dozen Georgia players currently sidelined with injuries following a season in which it seemed like the population of the trainer's room grew daily.

So far this spring, however, the Bulldogs have managed to stay relatively healthy, and Richt said no major calamities have hit the players.

"We've got a couple of guys with fingers and thumbs taped up," Richt said, "but so far so good."