Tight end Brock Bowers “only” has five catches, 95 yards, and no touchdowns through Georgia’s first games, but the sophomore is not complaining.

“We’re winning games; we’re all out there playing, having fun,” Bowers said after practice Wednesday. “It’s all good.”

Indeed.

Fifteen different Bulldogs caught passes during the team’s 33-0 win over Samford, with a total of 16 for the year.

“We’ve got a lot of athletes, so we’ve just got to get the ball in his hands,” Bowers said. “It’s good to be able to spread the wealth, get the ball in their hands.” He said it’s hard to argue otherwise.

Considering Georgia is averaging 40.5 points and over 500 yards of offense, there's certainly no need to complain.

“I like where we’re at,” Bowers said. “To be able to distribute the ball to all the dudes we have on the offense, there’s just so many good dudes who are such good playmakers like Ladd (McConkey), AD (Mitchell), Kenny (McIntosh), and Kendall (Milton)—all of them. It’s good to have all of them.”

…Bowers brought laughter when he revealed the cardboard cutouts you’re apt to see around town, bearing his likeness, aren’t limited to local banks.

His mom has one, too.

“She’s special, though,” smiled Bowers, who said the one acquired by his mother caught him off-guard when he went home to Napa, California last May.

“When I got there in May, it was sitting in the living room,” he said. “I walked in there, it was kind of dark, and at first I thought it was someone standing there.”

… On preparing for a road environment in the SEC: “We have crowd noise over the loudspeakers at practice,” Bowers said. “It gets hard to hear sometimes, so we’re working on things on offense because we’re trying to replicate the game environment at practice.”

… On his comfort level through two games compared to last year: “It's completely night and day… I think after two games last year, everything was still moving pretty fast for me,” Bowers said. “It was hard to make reads and process everything, but after two games this year, I feel pretty good.”

… On what stands out to him about South Carolina’s defense: “They have some good guys in the middle and at defensive back. We just try to prepare like every other week and get after it. We try to imitate them as best we can on the scout side of the ball, and they’ve been doing a good job of that.”

Left tackle Broderick Jones will tell you he loves dirt bikes. They just don’t necessarily love him.

If you recall, Jones injured his leg prior to arriving to Georgia his freshmen year after being involved in an accident.

“That was a long time ago,” Jones said. “I had to give that up.”

He admits it wasn’t necessarily easy to do.

“I miss it sometimes. I had to give it up right before I got to college,” Jones said. “It was hard for me, because I grew up around them, they were always around. But after getting hurt, I had to give them up.”

… On the opportunity to improve the run game against South Carolina: “Every game we try to impose our will in the running game, no matter who we are playing,” Jones said. “That is always the goal, to impose our will in the running game. I think we will attack it a little bit more this week.”

… On the offensive line rotations: “We just have so many great offensive linemen. Everybody can play any position. We’re just rotating and keeping fresh, keeping our legs fresh, so Mims can get reps, because he’s been doing a great job. Warren has been doing a great job at right and left (tackle). We’re just trying to keep a fresh pair of legs in at all times.”

… On Williams-Brice Stadium: “I didn’t get a real experience my first time playing there, it was during Covid, so I’m excited to play there. SEC stadiums are always going to be rocking when two SEC opponents are going at it,” Jones said.

… On the craziest environment he’s played in: “Tennessee. That was the loudest stadium I have ever played in.”

… On freshman linebacker E.J. Lightsey, who was the victim in a shooting earlier this year. “E.J. is a hard worker. It’s actually like the incident never happened. He’s fast, he flashed throughout camp,” Dumas-Johnson said. “He’s physical, he’s smart. I’m proud to see him keep stepping up and evolving.” Lightsey saw his first collegiate action last week against Samford.

… Dumas-Johnson likes what he’s seen from star Tykee Smith. “Tykee is a player we can count on coming into every game playing star. Like with Bullard, people think our small DBs are a weak link; they’re really not. Tykee is probably one of the most physical players on our team,” he said. “He’s always coming up to make hits; he can cover. As it's his second year in the defense, he’s very confident in what we can do.”

… Freshman middle linebacker Jalon Walker is apparently flashing some quality speed. “Jalon is probably one of the fastest players on defense right now,” Dumas-Johnson said. “Everyone in the linebacker room is big and fast, but he’s probably one of the fastest.

… Dumas-Johnson on Saturday’s game at South Carolina: “We need to open up and leave our mark on the league,” he said.

… Smart on running back Daijun Edwards: "He had a tremendous camp. He worked really hard. He was probably ready to play the same role this year that he did last year, but we had more backs. He had really done a good job picking things up on third down,” Smart said. “He is smart. He has great hands out of the back field. He catches the ball well. He's hard to tackle and quick. More than that, he is an everyday, special teams, tough, hard-nosed football player that makes our culture right in terms of toughness."

… Will Muschamp makes his first return trip to Columbia since being fired as the Gamecocks’ head coach two years ago. Although Smart likely hated to see his good friend lose his job, he’s certainly glad he’s back at his alma-matter working as the co-defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs.

"It is comforting to have a guy who has been an SEC head coach at two places. He has worked all across the SEC, including at LSU and Auburn. There is a lot of value in that knowledge. He understands the seat I'm in. He understands recruiting in this conference,” Smart said. “He is a tremendous asset to our defensive staff. He is a tremendous asset to our special teams staff. It's like having a second head coach, and that is what I am talking about when I talk about our staff being complete and being one of the best we have assembled. He's a big reason why."

… Freshman running back Branson Robinson enters Saturday’s game with five carries for 25 yards, along with being a key contributor on special teams.

“He's getting better with every day. He's a guy that works really hard. I thought in some of our competitive drills we do, on Monday and Tuesday, he's shown some promise and some burst. We tried to get him in a special teams role where he can really help, and he's still new to that. He reminds me of all the backs who had to come in, and they never really played special teams in high school, and then you have to train them to do that. He has the ability to be a star on three or four units, but he doesn't have the experience. So, how can you rush that process to help on special teams?

"It's actually easier to play, miss a back and give him the ball, but he's still working through everything in that, and he gives us a change of pace, because he's, heavier than those other guys.”