FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Make no mistake, Georgia’s trip to Florida is most certainly about business. There's a spot in the national championship on the line.

Nevertheless, the Bulldogs are being afforded the opportunity to have a little fun, despite the ongoing threat of Covid-19.

Today, the Bulldogs and their family will get to enjoy a private beach outing. On Tuesday, the Orange Bowl is hosting a special dinner for players, staff, and family members.

“Definitely we're excited to be in Miami and everything, but as we all know, it's a hotspot for Covid. We just have to make sure that we protect ourselves and wear our masks and just enjoy the moment,” nose guard Jordan Davis said. “Obviously, bowl week is a great time for team chemistry and getting to know each other a little bit better than we already do, and we're just excited to be here and have fun in Miami.”

But as linebacker Nakobe Dean is quick to attest, putting itself in position to play for a national championship is foremost on Georgia’s mind.

Despite the Bulldogs’ loss to Alabama in the SEC championship, that goal remains intact. That’s a point Dean said head coach Kirby Smart has made clear.

“Basically, he talks about taking the opportunity that we got. I know for me it's been telling the guys the type of opportunity that we've got. In the position that we're in, there's a lot of teams out there who are not in this position that we're in,” Dean said. “That’s kind of been the refocus and the mindset that we've got a huge opportunity to do something that's never been done before in a long time.”

Defensive back Christopher Smith played in the SEC Championship against Alabama, but it was obvious his knee was not 100 percent.

With three-plus weeks in between that game and Friday’s CFP semifinal at the Orange Bowl (7:30 p.m., ESPN), he expects to feel even better. However, he stopped short of calling himself completely healed.

“My knee is doing pretty well. I've been working with the training staff a lot to be able to get back going on the field and stuff like that. I definitely had a great opportunity to be able to play in the last game, and I'm doing everything I can to play in this game,” Smith said. “The training staff is working with me so much, and I appreciate them for that. I'm putting in a lot of work to be able to get my knee back right, and everything is going to be good.”

However, Smith declined to put a percentage on how healthy his knee truly is.

“I don't really want to disclose that information about the percentage of my knee or anything,” Smith said. “But I'm doing everything I can to be able to play, and I'll go out there and fight for my brothers.”

Lewis Cine said he’s not 100 percent sure on what all the current protocols are to protect the team from Covid-19. But he does know that’s something the Bulldogs take seriously.

“Honestly, I don't know what they do, but a larger percentage of the team -- well, probably 98 or 99 percent of the team is vaccinated,” Cine said. “Other than that, that's the only thing I can say because I don't know the rest of what's going on other than that.”

According to Smith, coaches and trainers continue to stress the importance of safety.

“It's really the same thing that they've been reiterating to us all year, just being safe, wearing masks. Covid is definitely going back up right now and it's getting crazy, so they just stress to us to be safe and make good decisions,” Smith said. “It’s pretty much everywhere right now, so you can't really dodge it or anything like that, but the things we can do as players, coaches, as a whole team is just trying to be safe because it's getting really crazy out here.”

On how he’s balancing his time with Georgia and his new job as the head coach at Oregon: “You know, I went out one time (to Eugene) initially right after getting hired, and really excited about what we're putting together there. My focus, the good thing, again, West Coast being three hours behind us has given us the opportunity to be able to really focus on Georgia early on during the day, and then later on at night, able to get a lot of things accomplished there with our team in Oregon and our staff as we're piecing that together.”