Tuesday News and Notes

One more day, another update on the health status of three key members of Kirby Smart’s defensive line.

The news is somewhat promising.

Smart said defensive tackle Warren Brinson (Achilles) “continues to take his rep load", with defensive end Mykel Williams (ankle) also making progress.

“Mykel has been able to do a little bit. I still don't know the timeline on Mykel. He's looked good running and taking some reps. Some light reps; some rush reps,” Smart said. “He did some stuff he did today. It was his first day really getting out there and doing some things. I haven't talked to Ron (Courson), so I don't know. I want to watch the tape and be able to see that.”

Defensive tackle Jordan Hall (stress fractures) is also making progress.

“Jordan is still pushing through. I feel good about Warren. Mykel's going to be close, and Jordan is still trying to get into practice,” Smart said.

The impending arrival of Tropical Storm Helene could affect Georgia’s travel plans to Tuscaloosa for Saturday night’s game.

Per forecast, the storm – which is expected to be upgraded to a hurricane – is expected to make landfall off the Gulf Coast of Florida before the remnants make their way up Georgia Thursday and into Friday.

“As I understand it, and we've been following it and watching it with the SEC office and our in-house people in Delta, it looks like it's trending more and more eastward which may affect us, but less and less effect towards the game,” Smart said. “My biggest concern is the travel and our travel arrangements. Being able to get there in a convenient way is my concern right now.”

The Bulldogs would typically leave for Tuscaloosa on Friday.

• Smart acknowledged he reached out to Dan Lanning in the offseason to get a better picture of Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer from his days at Washington.

“Yeah. We do that with everybody that plays against him. We do it with Dan too. He didn't have the most success either,” Smart said. “He's had some tough games and some tough decisions against him and has a lot of respect for him just like we do. We did a lot of that in the offseason. You talk to people about your future opponents and share ideas and own like opponents.”

• Smart said he’s been pleased with center Jared Wilson, including his skills in calling the plays to the rest of the offensive line.

“He's done a great job. He's very intelligent. He understands. He did a great job last year,” Smart said. “He studied under Sed Van Pran (Granger). He picks things up. Carson (Beck) does a lot of our communication as well as Jared. They share in it. Carson can override but Jared and he are on the same page. He's done a really good job.”

• As you might expect, the focus on practice has been excellent.

“It's good. You don't ever have to worry about them all this week. You've got to be careful not to leave it all on the practice field,” Smart said. “That's probably the biggest thing is holding guys back and making sure that they don't overdo it. Spirited, get after it practice. Like I said, when you get in these SEC rivalry games, it's not a motivation issue.”

• Smart said his tight ends haven’t been asked to do a lot yet, but that does not mean they won’t be.

“We've got good depth in that position. Oscar (Delp) has been a little in and out, beat up but he's practicing now and back. Lawson (Luckie) obviously went through the injuries last year,” Smart said. “Ben (Yurosek) has come and given us a really thick, big body type that can make some plays and the two young guys are getting better. Those guys have filled in nicely. We haven't asked them to do a lot but they're going to have to continue to play and get better to get us where we want to go offensively.”

• While Smart says it helps to have players who have lined up against Jalen Milroe, having excellent discipline will be the key to slowing him down.

“It helps with Jalen Milroe, he has played against them too. We've got some guys in the secondary that haven’t played against him,” Smart said. “It takes great discipline against this guy, but it also takes discipline rush. It takes a defined plan. It takes 11 people, we call it rushing coverage, working together. You have to team up against this guy. It's not going to be one guy that stops him. It has to be an 11-person plan that tries to control him.”