MOBILE, Ala. – Arian Smith’s reason for accepting an invitation to take part in the Senior Bowl was simple.

That is, he’s a lot better wide receiver than some may want to give him credit for.

“I'm fast; I'm not here to show that. I'm just here to show that I can catch the ball and get open,” Smith said in an interview with UGASports. “Of course, they can't teach separation. A lot of guys (defensive backs) are sticking to people. I just want to show that I can get open in a lot of ways and catch the ball because they say I can't catch or that my hands are iffy.”

So far, Smith appears to be doing just that.

The former Bulldog – who acknowledges he was plagued with drops during his senior year – has been one of the better receivers during practice at Whitney Hancock Stadium.

“I’ve made some plays. I know my hands can get a lot of work, so I’m just here to show that I’ve been working with my hands,” said Smith, who admitted dealing with the perception that he’s not a good receiver hasn’t been easy.

“I’d just tell myself; I'm a better player than this. Obviously, it's tough, having the spotlight of what I have,” Smtih said. “That light’s on me when I drop a pass. It’s like ‘Oh, he can't catch’ and it happens again. On the next level, people have games like that all the time. The way I look at it, that doesn’t make me who I am.”

Per Smith, it’s about how you respond. Wednesday was a good example.

“I had a slow start at practice. I think I had two drops today in the beginning of practice,” said Smith. “I was working a tunnel screen. I’m not used to catching like that, you know what I mean? They were zipping it, too. But once I slowed down, and just seeing the ball all the way, I caught it and had positive yardage.”

Smith admits his drops were cause for a lot of personal frustration.

“I'm bothered when I drop a pass and I let the team down,” Smith said. “It hits home with me, you know? I know I haven't hit my full potential. I know I've got a long ways to go to be the player I want to be.”

Otherwise, Smith said he leaves Athens with few regrets.

“I’m proud of us. We still found a way to be a champion (SEC) this year in some sort other than national,” Smith said. “The national is the one we want for sure, but this team faced a lot of adversity this year. I lost three games at Georgia this year; that was new to me, but it was also the hardest schedule I played, ever. Every week we were playing dogs; we couldn’t relax, and we had a lot of pressure on us, too.”

Smith believes the future in Athens remains in good hands.

“I don't think Coach (Kirby) Smart is going to change a single thing he does. I think he's going to attack this upcoming season just like he attacked last season, man. They're going to have a rough fall camp, a rough spring, and then Bloody Tuesday is going to still be Bloody Tuesday,” he said. “But I'm excited to see this upcoming season. I'm a dog for life.”