Kirby Smart did not drop any hints when asked specifically about the status of quarterback JT Daniels and whether or not he might be an option for Georgia’s next game at Kentucky.

After starter Stetson Bennett scuffled at times in the Bulldogs’ 41-24 loss to Alabama, some have wondered if, during the bye week, Smart might take a closer look at the former five-star Daniels, who has been medically cleared after undergoing ACL surgery on his right knee more than a year ago. Daniels has yet to get into a game, but has dressed and traveled with the team.

However, when asked that question during Tuesday’s Zoom call with reporters, Smart didn't offer much clarity.

“Yeah, we look at the off weeks as an opportunity to get everybody better. It will be no different at any position,” Smart said. “In terms of the reps, in a game week, we get ones I’d say 70 percent of the reps, twos 20 to 30 percent of the reps, but our threes get a lot of reps during the week, because they go against the other units.”

The only thing Smart would confirm is that Daniels, who didn't wear a knee brace last Saturday in Tuscaloosa, will continue to get plenty of reps.

“This week, we’ll get a lot of guys reps. JT will get reps, D’Wan (Mathis) will get reps, Stetson (Bennett) will continue to get reps,” Smart said. “We try to develop our roster, is the way we look at it. It doesn’t change, it just gives us a chance to give more guys work and see where they are in their progress, and that’s true at every position, including quarterback.”

Smart also addressed the question that many have asked since Daniels was medically cleared to play prior to the game against Auburn: What specifically is the difference between being medically cleared against Auburn and ready to play quarterback in Todd Monken’s system?

“Well, medically cleared is saying he can go out and get tackled and play football. It’s unique to that position, because the quarterback doesn’t go live, maybe in fall camp, but he doesn’t go live until real game time,” Smart said. “Everything else revolves around who we think gives us the best chance to win. That’s ultimately the decision we have. The toughest thing is getting enough reps once you’re down the road of being able to get guys prepared for games. You can’t prepare three and four quarterbacks to play in a game.

“You just don’t get enough time to do that. We do get a lot of time this week to compete, have reps. It’s every position. I look at it as every guy that’s going out there is getting a chance to get better on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. That’s the way we’ve always done our off weeks. It doesn’t change.”

Smart was later asked specifically if Bennett was still his starter, as well as what he needs to focus on before the Bulldogs’ next game (Oct. 31 at Kentucky, noon, SEC Network).

“Yeah, like I’ve talked about before. I feel great about Stetson Bennett. He’s done a good job managing the situations we’ve put him in. He made a couple of bad decisions. Some of them he didn’t have to pay the dividend for it. He threw a couple of balls that he shouldn’t have thrown based on the coverage they gave us, but those weren’t necessarily the ones that got picked,” Smart said. “Sometimes you get batted balls, and they get tipped and they get picked. Sometimes you throw a ball, you miss Jermaine (Burton) a little bit over the middle there, it’s a little bit out of his reach—maybe Jermaine gets his hands on it more. It’s just unfortunate they picked it.

“The ones that don’t get picked concern me more when we throw into coverage, and we had a couple of those. So, it's one of those things. He's done a really good job of executing on third down. He hit some guys who have dropped some balls on third down. We've become a third down team since he’s been in there. We've got to continue to improve on that. Everybody around him has to continue to improve.”

Along with his three interceptions, Bennett also had a number of batted and tipped balls at the line of scrimmage.

However, Smart didn't attribute that to height, noting it was Bennett’s inability to use the pocket that resulted in the aforementioned mistakes.

“A lot of that comes from experience. He’s gaining in the experience category. He’s not elite in experience, he doesn’t have a ton of it. We do a lot of drills in practice where we try to simulate the pocket, and you have to step up and through it,” Smart said. “I thought that was one of the things Jake (Fromm) was really good at. He could feel the pocket opening and step up in the pocket and either run or make a throw. We continue to work with Stetson on that. He’s shown the ability to do that. He didn’t always trust it Saturday; he’s got good pass protectors around him.”