After missing last year for personal reasons, Arik Gilbert has some catching up to do for Georgia this spring.

Getting back into shape has been job one.

Listed at 248 on the Bulldogs’ spring roster, head coach Kirby Smart said after practice that Gilbert’s weight is probably in the 265-270 range. Sources tell UGASports that Gilbert’s weight hovered around 300 pounds when he returned to the program at the first of the year.

“The biggest hurdle for him has been at the conditioning level. I think that’s the biggest thing. Learning the playbook, catching the ball is not a problem, you can catch balls. But he came back a little heavy and he'll admit that,” Smart said. “But he’s done a tremendous job of being part of our Cardio Club, dropping weight. He’s probably between 265-270, but he’s dropping.”

Although he’s still listed as a wide receiver, Smart made it clear that Gilbert is a tight end – at least for now.

Smart said Gilbert is starting to flash the talent that allowed him to catch 35 passes for 368 yards and two touchdowns his freshman year at LSU.

“What’s happening now is he’s starting to make more and more plays, but he’s having to work on his stamina to be able to sustain in practice,” Smart said. “He’s got to get back in condition so he can burst and run. But I’m pleased.”

With Brock Bowers (shoulder), Darnell Washington (foot), and Ryland Goede (knee) out for the spring, Gilbert, along with Brett Seither and early enrollee Oscar Delp, are getting plenty of reps.

“Our tight ends are receivers. They do play receiver; they don’t go out and split out wide all the time. He’s comfortable in his role right now,” Smart said. “He’s got a ways to go. He has not arrived. He’s come so far from not being able to execute a play to being able to execute a play, come back, hurry up, and line up. He’s fought to learn.”

… Smart confirmed that freshman linebacker C.J. Washington suffered a neck injury last week in practice and will be wearing a brace for an indefinite period of time.

“C.J. had a really tough injury. I didn’t see the hit. He had run out of bounds, and I'd turned to walk away, then I heard a bunch of ooo’s and ahh’s, then turned around to see him lying face down on the ground,” Smart said.

"I thought our medical staff did a tremendous job getting to him quickly. He was concussed. He had a neck injury. We don’t know the complete severity or how long it will take to recover. But we do know he’s got all of his extremities, he’s walking, and he was out at practice today, but he’s going to be in a neck brace for a while. He’s got a great spirit. He’s smiling, he’s cutting up, but I don’t know what the timeline is for his recovery.”

…Smart also responded with an update on signee E.J. Lightsey who, as a bystander, was shot several times back in February. "Fortunately, the news is good. He’s come up and seen us with his coaches a couple of times. It was an unfortunate incident. He was an innocent bystander; he got hit by a stray bullet, several of them. He was actually very lucky it wasn’t worse,” Smart said. “According to Ron (Courson), one hit about an inch from his heart. He’s just a tremendous kid. Everybody in the community talks about him. It’s just a tough situation. We think he’s going to have a full recovery and will be able to start with us just fine."

… Smart was overall pleased with Thursday’s practice ahead of the first scrimmage at Sanford Stadium this coming Saturday. “I thought the guys really competed today. They were up to the challenge. We had a two-hour session; we can get better. But the guys are growing. We’re getting a lot of young players reps. I don’t know if I can recall in all my time, I’ve had so many first-year players, actually mid-year players getting valuable reps,” Smart said. “Most of the time those guys are coming through your door, some might go with your threes. We’ve got a lot of them going with the twos. It shows with the excitement that they bring, but always with what they’re trying to do to get better. I’ve seen some good leadership signs out there.”

… Smart singled out Juman Dumas-Johnson, Sedrick Van Pran, Broderick Jones, Kelee Ringo, and Nolan Smith as players attempting to be this year’s leaders. “Lots of guys who are trying to assert themselves,” Smart said. “I’m encouraged more than anything.”

… Early enrollee Brett Thorson appears to have the edge as far as replacing Jake Camarda at punter. “We’re working on protections, check protections and kicking under pressure. That’s something he hasn’t been able to simulate—to kick under pressure,” Smart said. “He’s been a pleasant surprise. Probably not where Jake was last year, but he’s had a smooth transition."

… Devin Willock and Xavier Truss were seen working with the first unit at guard Thursday, but Smart said there’s still plenty of competition. Smart mentioned Warren Ericson, Dylan Fairchild, and Micah Morris as players still very much in the mix.

“It’s a great competition among a great group of guys to see what they can do. Devin and Xavier probably provide us with the most size in terms of length, girth, not necessarily all weight,” Smart said. “Micah has done a good job there, and Dylan had a sprained ankle, but he’s really competed. He’s missed a couple of practices, but he’s gotten back out there and pushed through it to the point of getting healthy, so he’s done a good job.”

… Smart said he won’t be looking for anything different from his quarterbacks in Saturday’s scrimmage than he would any other year.

“You never change with the quarterbacks. You can come here 10 years from now and it’s going to be the same thing as it was last year: it’s decision making, accuracy, and leadership. Great quarterbacks are accurate. If you can make good decisions and be accurate and you have good football players around you, you can be a pretty good football player,” Smart said. “I want to see them execute and lead the offense, make plays with their feet. I want to see them convert third downs, things that are difference-makers, overcome mistakes. The good thing is those guys get an opportunity to do that every day at practice. Sometimes, in a scrimmage, you don’t get put in bad situations, but in practice, we’re going to manufacture tough situations and they get to do those.”

… Smart cited composure as the common denominator with all his quarterbacks, including Carson Beck. "Carson is never up, never down. I think that’s a great quality in every quarterback I’ve seen. Guys that are emotional and up and down like a roller coaster, he’s pretty even-keeled. And to be honest, most of our quarterbacks are. There’s no guy there that loses it one way or the other,” Smart said. “But he does a good job being very even-keeled, and I think he understands the system. He’s got another year in the system, so it comes naturally to him. He’s not nervous about what the call is, what’s my read, what’s the motion, what’s the shift. He’s very cool, calm, and collected and does a good job of managing those things with the offense. So, he has earned some confidence and earned some confidence with the players.”