Players holding each other accountable has always been a priority for Georgia head coach Kirby Smart.

Good teams do that. Programs where players leave it to coaches to make the corrections typically don’t succeed.

Speaking on the subject after practice Tuesday, Smart said he’s fortunate some of his younger players are starting to adhere to that role.

“It's great when players deliver messages and talk to guys, as long as they do it the right way and they do it for the right reason,” said Smart.

Middle linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson is one such player.

During Georgia’s game two weeks ago at Missouri, Dumas-Johnson was captured on video screaming at cornerback Kamari Lassiter, after the latter appeared to miss an assignment resulting in a big gain for the Tigers.

“He was frustrated that he came out of coverage in scramble, and really, in a lot of ways, Kamari wasn't wrong. He was the force player, he was the flat player,” Smart said. “It's one of those deals he should have plastered and stayed on him. He didn't, it was a mistake. We talk all the time in our organization about being able to accept criticism and accept leadership.”

Lassiter agreed.

"I see it as two players who just want to win. With Pop (Dumas-Johnson), he's trying to be a leader and do whatever he can to help us win, so I'm just going to listen to him because he's the middle linebacker. He makes a lot of our calls and he's one of the leaders on this defense,” Lassiter said. “That's a guy I respect a lot, we came in together and we have a good relationship, the clip just blew up because of the way it looked, but nobody was on the field with us except for us."

Smart agreed.

As Georgia gets set to entertain Vanderbilt Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m., SEC Network), it’s that kind of accountability Georgia’s head coach says will be crucial to his team’s success the rest of the year.

“It's just as important as it is to have leaders in your program as it is to have people that will accept leadership and not defy it or not crumble when people confront them,” Smart said. “I thought he handled that well, and he's had the same thing where he's gotten on people, because he certainly has great work ethic and earned the right to hold people to our standard.”

Smart offered updates on several of his injured players Tuesday.

…DT Jalen Carter (MCL sprain): “Jalen is still not practicing with us,” Smart said. “He's not taking reps or anything, he's rehabbing.”

…LB Smael Mondon (ankle): “Smael’s been very similar to last week,” Smart said. Monden dressed out for last week’s game against Auburn but did not play.

…RB Kendall Milton (groin): “Kendall has not practiced yet. He's been out there with us,” Smart said. “I would say he's probably probable, but I don't know if he's going to be able to play or not.”

…LB Trezman Marshall (knee): “Trezman warms up and gets loose,” Smart said. “He looked much better today. He’s able to practice and get some reps.”

…WR AD Mitchell (ankle/thumb): “Adonai has looked better, but he hasn't probably looked as good as I thought he did in pregame last week. I really thought he looked good in pregame and hasn't quite been to that mark,” Smart said. “I don't know if it was the adrenaline, or the rush, I thought he looked pretty good in pregame and thought we might be able to use him more, but it didn't work out. He didn't really tweak it again, but he's not 100 percent. He's been very similar this week as he was last week.”

Mitchell took three snaps last Saturday but did not catch a pass.

…On Oscar Delp who took 22 snaps against Auburn. Will that continue? “Well, it's not that he didn't earn it before. He was probably ready and prepared prior to, we just we had a little bit of a 13 package,” Smart said. “The 13 packages has opened him up to play, which is the three tight ends, so he was in there and he played, and we look each week at it how teams play different personnel groupings, and we thought that was an opportunity to take advantage of. Sometimes it has to do with the depth at other positions that allow us to do that.”

…Regarding Vandy quarterback and White County native A.J. Swann who has completed 69 of 110 passes for 848 yards and eight touchdowns with zero interceptions: “Yeah, we had him down several times. Really throws the ball well; he's a sneaky athlete. Kid throws back shoulder balls, RPOs, spins it really good,” Smart said. “You can see why they've had confidence in him. The most recent games he stood out and did a tremendous job. For a freshman to go into the environments he's played in, he's played really well.”

…On this year’s identity: “Probably grit, toughness. The way they practice, I really like it. They're really a unique, connected group,” Smart said. “A little different than last year's group. Last year's group feels like they had been around longer. This group is created a little bit of an identity of how they care for each other, but also the grit and toughness they play with.”