Tuesday News and Notes

Although wide receiver Lawrence Cager (shoulder and ribs), cornerback Tyson Campbell (turf toe), and defensive end Travon Walker (wrist) continue to practice, the question remains: Will either be able to go Saturday against Florida?

According to head coach Kirby Smart, time will tell if either are able to play.

“Well they’re cleared to play, but we’ve got to find out if they’re ready to play,” Smart said. “Just because they practiced; if they’re practicing, they’re cleared.

“But cleared doesn’t say that guy is ready to play. That will be determined by how they practice, and what they’re able to do and not do, how in shape they are, how much they can sustain. Those are all important factors we have to factor into how much they’re able to play, and if they’re able to play.”

If Cager is able play, that would obviously be a huge deal for quarterback Jake Fromm who, over the first six games, leaned heavily on the grad transfer from Miami.

Cager is second behind George Pickens on the team in receiving with 19 catches for 245 yards and three scores.

“He’s basically looking like his old self,” cornerback Eric Stokes said. “Cager is back to himself. He’s giving you the great routes, everything you want in him.”

As the defensive backs coach last season at Florida, Charlton Warren knows the Gators’ personnel as well as anybody on Georgia’s staff.

But does that give the Bulldogs any sort of inside edge?

Smart doesn’t believe so.

“I don’t know if it means a lot. I don’t think the history that our staff has from the years in the West going against Dan (Mullen) means a lot. He’s probably watched countless films of the times we’ve gone against each other, and we do the same as far as schemes and things like that,” Smart said. “Personnel, there’s obviously personnel there that he knows or he’s gone against. Sometimes that can be beneficial, and sometimes it’s not because you don’t know how matchups are going to work. How does the left guard, right guard, center, the left receiver, right receiver, tight end going to match up on certain guys? He’s seen more of them because he sees them every day in practice. It’s very similar to (Jim) Chaney, but I don’t know how much that helps or hurts.”

Smart shrugged off the notion that former Bulldog linebacker Brenton Cox can give Gator coaches any valuable info after transferring back in August.

“Not really. You don’t concern yourself with things you can’t control,” Smart said. “They’ve got film, so they can watch and see what we do. It’s not like there’s secrets out there, when it’s on tape.”

Off all the concerns Smart has regarding the Gators, tight end Kyle Pitts may be at the top of his list.

At 6-foot-6 and 239 pounds, the sophomore is coming off a career game two weeks ago against LSU, when he caught five passes for 108 yards.

Over the past six games, Pitts has 30 receptions for 355 yards and four scores, including five-plus catches in each of the past three contests.

“He’s as talented as I’ve seen, and we knew that when he was coming out of high school. We recruited him heavily, couldn’t get him, and he went to the other staff,” Smart said. “He’s a tremendous athlete. He’s a matchup with his size and speed. He’s everything you want. I don’t know if the SEC has seen a tight end—I’m trying to think through the years. He’s different. The tight end at Notre Dame was a big old physical guy and a great player; this guy is 50 percent wide out, 50 percent tight end. He’s a great player.”

A lack of explosive plays on offense isn’t Smart’s only concern.

The same can be said for Georgia’s return game.

The Bulldogs are averaging just 14 yards per kickoff return, and although Georgia’s 13.7 yards per punt return isn’t bad, Smart’s still waiting to see some impactful plays.

“We haven’t done what we want to do there, explosive-wise. We’ve probably missed some opportunities for some big ones, a couple of times with Tyler (Simmons),” Smart said. “Tyler’s got good numbers, but we didn’t do it consistently, and he’s been dinged up. Dom (Blaylock) has given us some good, quality work back there.”

However, Smart remains hopeful.

“We’ve missed some opportunities in the kickoff return game. Two times we had zero-yard games, and statistically, those kill you,” Smart said. “We had a situation against Notre Dame, we think we’ve got hands out there, we catch it, D’Andre (Swift) gets a 2-yard return, and James Cook’s last week. The ball was swirling around—those just absolutely murder your statistics, but I’m pleased with our protection, our blocking, our scheme, everything we’re doing. We just haven’t had a clean shot.”

Last week, the Georgia Southern football team lost freshman Jordan Wiggins, who was found dead in his apartment.

His death was ruled a suicide.

Smart was one of a number of head coaches who reached out to Eagles head coach Chad Lunsford to offer his condolences and support.

"It’s hard, mental health, and my brother works in the profession. It has affected me more in the last two years than it had the previous 12, 13 of my coaching career,” Smart said. “When I was first into coaching, I didn’t even know what that was. Now, it’s way more prevalent.”

Smart said the issues players face is something the SEC is concerned about. It has gone to great lengths to try and help student athletes in the area of mental health.

“We talk about it in SEC meetings; we talk about it all the time. We’ve hired two people in the field. These kids today are dealing with a lot more pressure, anxiety, issues, social media, pressure on themselves to perform—whatever it may be. I’m not just talking about student-athletes; we’re talking about students,” Smart said. “We’ve had guys that have had struggles and issues, so when he had his situation, I just reached out, that, hey, we’re all going through it. We’re not professional [as counselors]. I’m not a professional dealing with that, so we have to reach out and get help on how to manage those kinds of situations."

“I sit by him in every SEC meeting because F (then) G, alphabetized. Side by side. So, we get to sit and talk about things. When the topic comes up about whatever the conversation is, whether it’s some rule thing, some recruiting thing, we’re always sharing ideas. Everybody looks at how does it affect you? How does it affect him, how does it affect me? We’re both the only SEC schools in our state, so sometimes we agree on certain things and things like that. But, I mean, I don’t get to see Dan a lot, even when he’s at the lake and I’m there. We’re both spending time with our families.” – Kirby Smart on his relationship with Dan Mullen.