With Georgia now four games into the 2019 campaign, the following question was posed to head coach Kirby Smart – what more does he know about his team that he didn’t at the start of the year?

Turns out there’s quite a bit.

“That they’re resilient, that they’ll respond to our days that haven’t been great in practice they’ve responded well to,” Smart said after practice Tuesday. “That’s usually the first sign that they’re the right kind of guys – when adversity strikes, they respond to that. We’re not easy on them out there, we’re tough on them. They embrace it and the older guys kind of lead with a message of they’re pushing you because they want you to be great. That’s usually the sign of a good team, No. 1 that can handle adversity but 2, tough coaching.”

So, what’s next?

After Tennessee, the Bulldogs host South Carolina and Kentucky before the team’s second bye takes them to Jacksonville for the Nov. 2 game against Florida.

“I want to see them grow; I want to see them improve. There’s lot of teams that hit games five, six and seven and hit a plateau,” Smart said. “The teams that are best continue to get better. I don’t know what this team will continue to do games five, six and seven, we’ve got to see, but I want to see them continue to grow and improve.”

Although cornerback Tyson Campbell was seen at practice, it appears the sophomore will not be available for Saturday night’s game at Tennessee (7 p.m., ESPN).

“Yeah, he wasn't able to go today,” Smart said. “He's running. He's running faster. He's picking up speed, but he's not able to go right now."

Meanwhile, left guard Solomon Kindley was able to practice, but his status is also unclear.

“Yeah, Solomon got to go a good bit. We think he's going to be okay,” Smart said. “It's going to be a matter of whether he's mentally ready to play more than physically ready to play. He's in a similar situation that Isaiah Wilson was in the week of Notre Dame."

The question was straight and to the point – will Jake Camarda be the punter this weekend against the Vols?

Smart seemed to at least hint at the possibility.

“Jake’s done a good job. He’s responded well. He continues to work really hard. We have punting periods. We measure his height, his distance, his hang. Direction kicking, how well he’s doing that. He continues to work on that,” Smart said. “He gets lots of shots at it as well as the other guys. We’ve rolled other guys in there with the ones and we’ll see how it goes Saturday to see who punts.”

Bill Rubright and Noah Chumley are the other punters currently on the roster.

Smart said there’s still plenty of work his team needs to get done on the defensive side before he’ll consider the unit elite.

“You’re always are trying to get better on defense. We’re trying to create ways to make negative plays, have new wrinkles, allow the guys to play fast, play more players. We’re trying to improve on our tackling,” Smart said. “That’s not something we’ve been satisfied with. We get out position and reach a lot of times. We’re not forcing the number of turnovers we need to force in order to be a top defense. There’s a lot of things we’re looking to improve on defensively and hey, our guys are pushing each day out there. They’re trying to get better.”

At least effort is not an issue.

“Not really. Our guys work hard defensively. I haven’t been shocked or anything. I’ve been very pleased,” Smart said. “It’s usually how you practice is how you carry over to the game. Our kids have practiced hard on both sides of the ball and played hard.”

No, we’re not talking bowel movements, but there is a certain kind of strain Smart wants to see from his players.

“I want everybody to. I want to strain harder and longer,” Smart said. “I want Jordan Davis to strain harder and longer. I want Trey Hill to.”

They’re not the only ones.

“It means when you strain on a play and you block a guy, I want you to do it longer and harder. So, if you do it for four seconds, I want you to do it for five, for six. If you do it for seven, I want you to do it for eight, for nine. I want you to do it until the echo of the whistle,” Smart said. “That’s harder and longer. That’s for every player on the team, not just Trey Hill. Jake Fromm, I want him to strain harder and longer to make it perfect.”

It had been a few weeks since Smart was last asked about senior defensive lineman Julian Rochester.

Nevertheless, when a question was posed against Tuesday, Smart chastised the press for bringing it up.

“He’s cleared and working his way back. He’s out there competing. I don’t know what it is you guys have got on this whole Julian Rochester kick. Julian is progressing, getting better,” Smart said. “He had an ACL injury, which happened a little later than most of our ACLs, and he’s continuing to work. I really don’t know how to answer the question. I feel like you all keep asking the question like you all are expecting him to run out there and start and play. When he’s ready to play, and he’s better than the guy that he’s going against or better than the guys that he’s behind, then he’ll play.”

The former McEachern standout has practiced with the team ever since the start of camp but has yet to appear in either of Georgia’s four games.

Smart did say he was unsure as to when the injury actually occurred, but indicated it was either in the SEC Championship or the Sugar Bowl.

● Kirby Smart on the impact of the California bill which would allow players to be paid:

“Yeah, I’d just refer to the SEC on that. Our commissioner does a great job leading us in the right direction and I know our president’s done a great job being on the committee of name, image and likeness. He does a great job. They’ll be looking at all the different angles of it and see how it impacts college football.”

● Smart on an underdog Tennessee:

“I think every team’s dangerous. When I watch college football every Saturday, every team is dangerous. You’re dealing with 18 to 22-year-olds whose mind is not where your mind is. My mind is there 98 percent of the time, OK? Their mind is there probably 5-to-10 percent of the time. Every team is dangerous, starting with Tennessee.”

● Smart on safety Richard LeCounte:

“He’s getting better. He continues to work hard at it, I’m on him every day to understand the ins and outs of our defenses, to be a commanding leader of his side. It’s not as easy as JR makes the call. A lot of times they’re working two independent sides. And he continues to work on that and improve on that. I’m very pleased that he’s coming in extra, meeting, learning his stuff. But it’s also a work in progress back there because we challenge them mentally.”

● Smart on if Cade Mays might play some left guard:

"Not right now. I mean, we feel good that Justin Shaffer's playing good football. Cade will alternate with some backup stuff because Cade kind of backs up a lot of positions but we've got other guys who can play left guard."

● On going tempo against Tennessee:

“We go tempo. We've gone tempo in every game. We don't mind tempo. We practice tempo. Tempo is part of our offense and we're certainly capable of doing it."

Georgia practiced for two hours Tuesday in preparation for the Vols.

“We just finished up Tuesday’s practice a little bit ahead of schedule, and hoping to stay ahead a little with the off week to get a jump start on these guys. We had good energy today, good enthusiasm, we were half in, half out,” Smart said. “It was hot outside; we’re playing at night so we’re trying to get a little bit of practice in the climate. I thought the kids were really energized today, really pushed hard. We get a lot of chance to do a lot of good on good because of the similarities in the offense and defense, so the players like going against each other a little better.”