Georgia’s off week came at an opportune time, as it apparently allowed many of the Bulldogs’ walking wounded to heal up in time for Saturday night’s game at Tennessee (7 p.m., ESPN).

That includes starting cornerback Eric Stokes (knee), who was knocked out of the game two weeks ago against Notre Dame, and hopefully, Tyson Campbell who has been out for three weeks while dealing with a foot injury. He appears to be closer to getting back on the field.

“Eric Stokes, we think, is going to be able to practice today. Again, he did not practice on Thursday. He conditioned and ran and moved around, but he wasn't able to practice today. He's supposed to be able to be full go in practice,” head coach Kirby Smart said during Monday’s press conference. “Tyson (Campbell) is still limited a little bit; hoping to get him back before the end of the week. He's recovering quickly.”

They aren’t the only ones.

Smart said he also expects starting left guard Solomon Kindley to be back on the field today, although he would not go as far to project him getting back against the Vols.

“We think he's going to be cleared to play, but we just don't know if he's going to be able to or not,” Smart said. “It's going to depend on how many reps he can get today and tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, wide receiver Kearis Jackson has been given the green light. The redshirt freshman has not played since breaking some bones in his hand during the opener at Vanderbilt.

“Kearis (Jackson) is cleared to play. He's going to be able to play. We think he's going to be able to go out and do a good job for us,” Smart said. “He practiced last week. Like I said, he's been practicing all along. It's never gone away with his situation. He's just going to have a different brace on, a different splint on, but we think he's going to be good to go.

Smart said freshman linebacker Nakobe Dean is healthy, despite making only four tackles in four games.

“Yeah, he's playing at 100 percent. I feel like he is. He's out there playing situational football. He plays in the first, second down rotation. He's done a good job. I do think the setback held him back some from being able to play every snap, and also from getting the reps,” Smart said. “There was a brief time in there when he couldn't get as many reps, and it probably hurt him there from a mental standpoint. But he's picked that back up, and he's working really hard, and we're pleased with what he's doing. Just continue to get better.”

Of all the storylines in play for Saturday’s game against the Vols, the return of Bulldog offensive lineman Cade Mays is certainly one of the more unique.

Father Kevin Mays was an All-SEC guard and co-offensive captain in 1994 at Tennessee, and for a while, it appeared the younger Mays was going to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Cade originally committed to Tennessee before the Knoxville native ultimately changed his mind to sign with Georgia.

Obviously, that decision didn’t sit too well with many in the Big Orange Nation, who will no doubt be anxious to welcome him back on his first trip back to Neyland Stadium since donning the Red and Black.

“I think he understands he cannot let the emotion get the best of him,” Smart said. “He knows a lot of the guys on their team and kind of was around a lot of them, but Cade has good self-control, and he understands what he can and can't do, and he'll play hard, just like they'll play hard against him.”

Smart hopes the fact Mays played against the Vols last year should help keep his composure in check.

“Well, he had that last year. I know it wasn't there, but it was the same emotions, I think, that he played with,” Smart said. “Obviously when your father plays for that school and you grow up in that town, there's a lot of emotions there. But Cade has played in a lot of big games. He's played in a lot of snaps, a lot of positions.”

The question was posed somewhat delicately to Smart regarding the explosion of points being scored throughout college football, particularly by some of the top teams in the nation.

Not surprisingly, Smart said he couldn't care less.

“The other games don't affect us at all,” Smart said. “I think it's not my job to rate what other teams do, or how many points they score, or how many points they give up.

“Our job is to go play the best football game our kids can play, and that's what we try to do each week with the ultimate goal of winning the game in mind, and we go play at the highest level we can. And if we're not doing that, we try to figure out which ways we can do it better. But that's all we do.”

Those statements came after Smart acknowledged last week that he’d like to see his Bulldogs mix it up a bit more on offense, if anything to keep opposing teams from loading the box as Notre Dame did two weeks ago in Athens.

It’s been a tough year for Tennessee, which sits at 1-3 on the year, including a shocking loss to Georgia State in the season-opener and a blowout defeat to Florida two weeks ago in Gainesville.

However, Smart seems to think the Vols are a lot better than many are giving them credit for

“Their depth, their physicality. They were thinner at some positions last year. They've got more guys. They're rolling and playing more guys. They're playing really hard, and they play really physical. You look at the games they've played this year, they've had some self-inflicted wounds,” Smart said. “Otherwise, they're winning or in those games.”

Smart didn’t stop there.

Georgia’s fourth-year coach went on to praise the staff of Volunteers head coach Jeremy Pruitt, which features four other coaches (Tracy Rocker, Jim Chaney, Kevin Sherrer, and Will Friend) who worked for the Bulldogs in previous lives.

“You know the way they're coaching, and the way they're demanding, they've got a good staff, they're going to push these kids, and they're getting them better,” Smart said. “They've had a whole week to get better and improve, and I think it shows on tape when you watch how hard they play, that they're on the brink of something special, and you can tell these guys are playing hard, and they're playing with a lot of young guys. There's a lot of guys out there that were recruited last year in a lot of situations.”

“We're thankful we have depth, because like last year, the depth played a major role in our season, because we missed some guys last year. With similar injuries this year; we've had several guys go in and out of the lineup. I think that's one of the defensive and offensive lines are those spots that you had the highest risk of losing a guy because of what goes on in there in the trenches, and it's tougher in there. So, we've been fortunate that none of the injuries have been significant, but I think everybody's got the same problem, so you're always shuffling O-linemen to put them in the right spot. Same thing with defensive linemen to find the spot to get some depth to be able to play guys, and we've been fortunate to play a lot of guys up front. But we're getting ready to go on a stretch now where it's going to have to be for a long time.” – Kirby Smart on his offensive line depth.

…Announcers for Saturday night’s game on ESPN will be Todd Blackledge, Sean McDonough, and Holly Rowe.

…Next week’s home game against South Carolina will kick off at noon on ESPN, the SEC office announced Monday.