Jake Fromm said that Bulldog wide receiver George Pickens apologized for his actions that resulted in his ejection in the third quarter of Saturday’s 52-7 win over Georgia Tech.

Pickens will have to miss the first half of Saturday’s SEC Championship as a result.

Fromm believes he learned his lesson.

“I think he’s responded well. There was a moment yesterday where he apologized for his actions. That was a step for him, growing up and trying to realize that his actions affect more than just him,” Fromm said. “It affects the entire team, so we’re excited for him and we’re ready to move forward. It is what it is—we’re going to have to go and play without him the first half. Let’s go play football.”

Wide receiver Tyler Simmons, who was critical of Pickens after the game, agreed with Fromm.

“We had a chance to sit down with him yesterday and talk about it,” Simmons said. “I think he sincerely knows what he did wrong and knows how to improve from it.”

Senior running back Brian Herrien was one of the Bulldogs who reached out to Pickens, who had already missed the first half against Georgia Tech for what Kirby Smart termed as a violation of team rules.

Smart commented on Herrien's leadership in this situation.

“It’s important to have a big brother. I mean, we all have mentors, and you grow. A young player, I mean, young players across the country, you have to grow up,” Smart said. “When you have an older player, that's able to help you with that, I think it's always a benefit, and we're always trying to get our guys to help out the younger players in every facet.”

After two days of saying running back D’Andre Swift would be “fine” for Saturday’s SEC Championship, Smart seemed to hedge his bets when asked during Monday’s press conference.

“We’re hopeful he can play,” said Smart, who Sunday denied that Swift’s “shoulder contusion” was similar to the shoulder injury former Auburn running back Kerryon Johnson suffered prior to the SEC title game in 2017.

If Swift is limited, Smart said he’s got full confidence in the other running backs on the team.

“Very confident. Zamir (White) had some good games and has gotten to play more and more. We're trying to find ways to use him. James (Cook) is the same way, and Kenny (McIntosh) got to go in the game and did some good things the other day, so I feel very comfortable about the other guys,” Smart said. “Obviously, Swift has a different skill set probably as a total package than all of them, and we want him to be in there. But we've got some depth at that position that we can use guys.”

Smart said being an underdog won’t be extra motivation for his Bulldogs on Saturday.

“No, we really don't bring that up. What we worry about is what do we have to do to execute well,” Smart said. “I don't get into who is favored by how many or underdogs. It's just not important, because the people that make those decisions aren't in this room. They're not in our meeting rooms, they're not in our meetings, they don't go there through our practices. We try to control what we can control with how we practice and how we get ready.”

Simmons, however, didn’t necessarily agree.

“I feel like being at Georgia, we’ve been underdogs plenty of times,” Simmons said. “This position isn’t really anything new. Coach says pressure is a privilege, and it’s something that we believe.”

On re-visiting last year’s loss to LSU.

“You always watch it. You have it in your breakdowns. You look at things, you look at matchups, you look at guys, playing guys, covering guys, because a lot of the guys are the same and you look at those things. But schematically, they're different. They hurt us with some things last year. Some of the things they hurt us with last year, they still do. Some of them, they don't. They're just a really different team from an offensive perspective. From a defensive perspective, they're not exactly the same team, but they're more similar.”

On the criteria for the rotation and use of guards Ben Cleveland, Solomon Kindley, Cade Mays, and Jameree Salyer.

“No, it's a practice thing. It's who practices the best, who gives us the best chance to win, who is playing the best within the game, who is prepared, who is doing the best job of communication based on fronts, and who is in pass pro. So, basically, whoever is playing better, we try to play.”

On getting James Cook the ball and utilizing him more: “He has been utilized quite a bit. When he's been healthy. Some of them are what we call PROs, which I talked about before. They’re controlled by what the defense gives us, not by touches necessarily for him. In the last couple weeks, we've given him a few more carries. It boils down to us really saying, all right, 'Who are the best football players to give us the best opportunity to win?' And he's at a position where it's more shared. To be a wideout and go out there and play wideout, that's not a natural position for him. So, the things he's able to do, the things he's really strong at, are best around the backfield. We happen to have other strong guys in those areas. So, we're trying to find ways to get him the ball.”