NASHVILLE – Kirby Smart offered the assembled media a task during his opening statement Tuesday at SEC Media Days: bring tight end Brock Bowers out of his typically conservative shell.

“Your challenge today is to get more than three sentences out of Brock Bowers, which we have not been able to do in three years,” Smart quipped. “If you can get him to talk, it'll be a great challenge for you, and see if you can get it done.”

By his own admission, Bowers is not blessed with the gift of gab. He’s one of those players who prefers to let his play do the talking for him.

However, in this day of representing oneself in a positive fashion, as well as his University, Bowers said he took his invitation to represent the Bulldogs at media days as an opportunity he could not pass up.

“I’m excited about it,” Bowers said. “I’ll be fine.”

He was.

Bowers appeared at ease as he fielded a variety of questions, even joking with a reporter, “There was no pep talk. It was like ‘You’re going.’”

Giving Bowers the opportunity to meet the 1,200 media members attending this year’s event was important for Smart.

Smart said. “I'm so excited to see the growth he gets from visiting with you guys and getting to enjoy it.”

Bowers joked he’s getting used to being in front of the cameras more. At least he was prepared for Nashville.

That wasn’t the case last year in Los Angeles when Bowers was “asked” to take part in the closing press conference the night after Georgia’s national championship victory over Texas Christian.

“I was just walking to breakfast. I was not prepared at all, but they asked if I wanted to go do media,” Bowers said. “I said not really this morning. They were like, well, yeah you have to, I said ok, that wasn’t really a question then.”

It’s clear why Bowers finds himself in such demand by the folks covering this year’s event.

The reigning Mackey Award winner and two-time All-SEC member is setting his own standard at tight end and is a sure-fire first-round pick in next year’s NFL Draft.

Some even suggest that Bowers could be the SEC Offensive Player of the Year despite playing the position he does.

“I don’t know about that. Quarterbacks, they’re usually the best player on the field,” Bowers said. “They’re the field general; it would take a lot for me to do that.”

But considering Bowers’ competitive nature, counting him out might be a mistake.

During his opening statement, Smart regaled attendees on how an off-season conditioning drill called “boxes” turned into a challenge that Bower refused to let freshmen tight ends Lawson Lucky and Pearce Spurlin win.

“As part of our program, we do running in boxes. You've got to run down one side of the field and then you jog across the end zone, and then you've got to run, sprint to the other side. So, one day, I don't think these tight ends would claim this to be true. But one day our younger tight ends had decided that they were going to finally get Brock,” Smart said. “So, they took turns, which you're not supposed to do, running as fast as possible down the straightaway, the 100 yards you run down the straightaway, and they were going to eventually beat Brock. Because while one of them was sprinting, one of the others would be resting and they had to try to beat Brock.

“Well, not only did Brock win every one of those races, but he also beat every single one of them turn by turn by turn while they rested and waited up, and they just couldn't beat the old vet. It just shows his work ethic and how hard he competes at everything he does and does it with silence.”

Bowers offered a sheepish grin when asked about the day.

“I don’t like to lose. I remember one of the mornings we were running, Pearce was jogging one, then Lawson would sprint one, then Pearce all of a sudden sprinted out of nowhere,” Bowers said. “I’m like, oh gosh, I’m sprinting all the time. It was tough. But we’re always pushing each other to make each other better.”

For Bulldog fans wondering what’s next under new offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, Bowers said he doesn’t expect much to change.

“He’ll use me a lot like Coach (Todd) Monken did; he’ll put his own wrinkles in there. I’ll be happy with whatever helps the team win. It’s kind of crazy to think I’m the old guy now. I like the freshmen coming in; I’m just trying to help lead them down the right path.”