Georgia has reached the unofficial midpoint of its season.

The Bulldogs have their bye week this Saturday before SEC play resumes next weekend against Florida in Jacksonville. After that are four more contests before postseason play gets started.

Kirby Smart and a few UGA players met with the media on Tuesday evening for their only availability during the team's bye week. Here's what they had to say.

Bye weeks are usually when teams try to heal up for the home stretch. Georgia is no different, with several key players banged up.

At the top of the list is All-American defensive tackle Jalen Carter, who has been out with an MCL injury since the Missouri game. Smart said Carter is continuing to rehab while also doing his conditioning work with the training staff.

Receiver AD Mitchell is still unable to participate in drills. He has seen extremely limited action since the Samford game as he deals with an ankle injury. Smart noted that Mitchell has been running with the team and looking better.

Smart did offer a positive update on linebacker Smael Mondon.

"He went today more than he’s gone in two weeks and was in drills and did things and moved around," Smart said. "I would not say that he was 100%. But the fact he was out there in punt team, he covered, he covered people, not 100% but he did way more than he’s done the last few weeks. I feel really good about where Smael’s at."

Running back Kendall Milton hasn't practiced the past couple days. He has been running with the team and feeling better, according to Smart.

Finally, Smart said receiver Ladd McConkey is fine and could play this weekend if there was a game. McConkey is dealing with ankle and toe injuries.

The open date affords the Bulldogs the chance to both look inward and toward upcoming opponents.

On the former, Smart said the team tries to evaluate all aspects of the program during this week.

"We go back and say, why has it been the way it’s been and you explain it," Smart said. "You look at what you’ve done well, what you’ve done poorly, and how can we do it better? We sit down as coaches and say, 'All right, what do we need to do to win the next five games, six games?' We target that area. We’re really focusing on our weaknesses and trying to strengthen our strong points."

The staff is also peeking ahead to future opponents. Each staff member is assigned a team and then has to give a presentation on that squad and its potential new wrinkles to the rest of the staff.

The looking ahead ends Wednesday, as the Bulldogs begin preparations for Florida on Thursday. But senior linebacker Nolan Smith said this week presents a great opportunity to set the stage for a strong closing stretch even beyond Jacksonville.

"It’s really a work week. A lot of people say that, but do they actually mean it?" Smith said. "I think last year, one thing that I learned, we took a step ahead on this bye week. I think hopefully, we do it this year."

At this point, Smart being asked about the game being played in Jacksonville is almost as much a tradition as the game itself.

That continued Tuesday, as Smart gave his thoughts on the annual tradition. He said there are benefits both to the neutral-site setting and moving the series to home and home.

"I enjoy the pageantry of going down there and playing. I enjoyed playing there as a player. I enjoy tradition. I enjoy all those things," Smart said. "When it comes down to it, there’s a very, very basic element of everything. It goes back to, number one, money, and number two, recruiting and getting good players. I firmly believe that we’ll be able to sign better players by having home and home because we’ll have more opportunities to get them to campus. But I also think that the financial factor that factors into that with having the game there and being able to make more money for the university possibly there. You have to weigh both of those and make the decision."

Smart also made sure to note he's not spending any time dwelling on such topics, saying he has more pressing issues at hand.

Two Georgia players do have special connections to the game. Right tackle Warren McClendon grew up in Brunswick and said the game always marked a special occasion for his family.

"It always was a huge experience," McClendon said. "Everybody comes into town, cook out, just all the family comes back into town. My uncles, they’ll normally come down for it. Growing up, that was just a huge experience for me."

The game is also special for Smith, a native of Savannah.

"I used to go to Jacksonville to go to camps with my mom," Smith said. "I just get really excited to play in that game. I just feel like as a kid from Savannah, I just smell the weather. It feels so good, that breeze, just feels like I’m at home and I’m playing at home again."