When Kirby Smart talks about wanting players to come to Georgia for the right reasons, junior safety/star Joenel Aguero fits that description.

That includes Aguero’s reaction when the Bulldogs brought in three players from the transfer portal who could theoretically cut into his playing time.

However, Smart said that’s been the least of Aguero’s concerns.

“I don't think he cares about that. I mean, he wants to win. If you want to win, then you want good players,” Smart said. “I think there's a societal emphasis on ‘if people come, then that's dangerous to me.’ I think it will make you work harder.”

Aguero agreed, adding that Zion Branch, Jaden Harris, and Adrian Maddox are already making early impacts and showing they can be contributors come fall.

“They're great players; they came from great programs,” Aguero said. “They learned the standard, and they're just learning every day and getting better.”

But there’s work to do.

Aguero admitted that Saturday’s scrimmage could have been better from the standpoint of the safeties, a fact Smart seemed to echo when asked about the three newcomers and the work they’ve put in so far.

“Flashes. But, flashes don't win games. Consistency does. As you know, we're looking for more consistency out of those positions,” Smart said. “You all tell me how many snaps we've lost. I don't know, 2,000? I mean, we probably took 1,000 snaps last year on defense. If we took 1,000 snaps, Malaki (Starks) and Dan (Jackson) took 1,000 each. That's 2,000. So that's – I mean, I know KJ (Bolden) played a good bit, but there's a lot of snaps missing out there, and these guys are coming into a defensive system that requires heavy communication, and we're not going to let the offense dictate to us.

"So, we have a lot of things we do to create an advantage when an offense does something, and you've got to be able to communicate to do that.”

That’s where Aguero comes in.

Along with Bolden and JaCorey Thomas, Aguero is trying to make the three newcomers as comfortable as possible in the system.

Aguero is doing some learning himself.

After focusing primarily at star his first two seasons as a Bulldog, Aguero has the opportunity to play some safety for the Bulldogs this spring.

“I feel like it's pretty big,” Aguero said. “I feel like it just has more versatility. It just helps me understand the defense better.”

If it seems like Aguero is a man of few words, he is.

“He’s becoming more vocal, which is tough on him. He's not a vocal kid,” Smart said. “He doesn't like to talk and open up, but he's getting better at it.”

He’s also healthier than he was a season ago.

Aguero revealed that he broke his hand late last year, an injury he attempted to play through but ultimately caused him to miss three games.

“It made an impact, not being able to play some games,” Aguero recalled. “I just had to cheer on my brothers and make sure it (the hand) was good.”