It appears that tight end Tre’ McKitty will not be available for Georgia in its season-opener Saturday at Arkansas (4 p.m., SEC Network).

McKitty underwent arthroscopic surgery a little over three weeks ago, but according to head coach Kirby Smart, he will not be ready to go against the Razorbacks.

“He’s doubtful for Saturday,” Smart said. “He’s up and running and moving around well. He got on the AlterG (anti-gravity treadmill) and has been able to run some. We don’t think he’s going to make it in time for Saturday.”

John FitzPatrick and freshmen Darnell Washington, Ryland Goede, and Brett Seither are expected to handle the duties on Saturday.

Smart seemed to be taking a subtle dig at the preseason all-conference teams, which typically have listed just two of his players among its first-team members.

This comes despite the Bulldogs having the SEC’s top returning defense in terms of fewest points scored and fewest rushing yards allowed.

The recent SEC Coaches Preseason squad listed only Jordan Davis and Richard LeCounte among its first team.

“I didn’t think we had a lot of preseason hype with our defense in terms of All-SEC guys. I would think that all the better defenses are somewhere else, because I don’t know that we put but two guys maybe?” Smart said. “I don’t know. Richard (LeCounte) and Jordan (Davis) were the only two I noticed on the accolades. For us to have all the great players, they’re certainly not getting recognized that way.”

That's not to say Smart does not want to see some improvement from last year’s defensive squad.

“There are a lot of things we can do better than last year, which is to create more turnovers, trying to create the havoc that we talked about last year but didn’t get to do it at the rate we would like to do it,” he said. “I did think we played good in the red area, and we did a pretty good job on the third downs. At the end of the day, we kept people from scoring, and that was probably the most important stat there is with the defense we had.”

When asked about which two of Georgia’s young receivers have stood out to him, Jermaine Burton and Marcus Rosemy topped the list for cornerback Eric Stokes.

“I love guarding them any and every chance I get. Burton is always calling me out for any little competition, because he knows for a fact I’m going to push him, I’m going to talk my smack, I’m going to do everything to him to make him better,” Stokes said. “Rosemy, I’m going to talk my smack to him, too, because I’m going to push him. He's always getting mad, but he's always saying, 'Make me better, make me better,' so that's what I'm doing. I’m doing everything in my power to make him better.”

Speaking of freshmen, Smart also updated the progress of fellow freshman Ladd McConkey.

“He’s fast. He's athletic. He's got really good hands, and he comes to work every day. He's a guy who has worked some of our scout team, and he competes. He blocks. He’s a lot more physical than you would expect a guy his size to be, and he’s gotten bigger since he’s been here. I'm excited about him and his development. He works so hard each day and has really good ball skills and has caught the ball well."

…Smart had no comment when asked to respond to the “toxic environment” comments about Georgia made by the attorney for former offensive lineman Cade Mays, now at Tennessee.

"Unfortunately, I’m not able to respond to that. In due time, it will play itself out, but it's not something I'm allowed to comment on,” said Smart, whose comments came prior to the allegations made on Twitter attributed to former Bulldog defensive back Otis Reese.

…Smart said he does not believe the direction of Todd Monken’s offense is influenced by the success of other programs and their RPOs (run, pass options).

“I don’t think the offenses that are highly successful are necessarily RPOs—I would disagree with that... Yeah, it’s built around what we think we can do and be most successful with, given the players we have. Certainly, (we) study a lot of teams that were successful last year, as we do every year. (We) look (at) what we have similar to other teams that might have something similar to us—meaning if there's an elite receiver or an elite tight end or maybe [defensive] backs or a really good, featured quarterback.

“Whatever it is that we think we can simulate with the players we have that teams have been successful with. You have to be careful when you talk about that, because our league is very different than many others. The outlier for me would be obviously LSU last year, being what they did. You can see on every Sunday what they had, and what they were capable of with the ammunition they had. Everybody tries to copycat to an extent and do what people do well. We have to build that around what we have and what we are capable of doing with what we have.”

…Smart was asked what D’Wan Mathis learned from Jake Fromm last year.

"I would probably say just being levelheaded. I think all the quarterbacks that were here last year—the two, really, and a couple of the walk-on kids—really learned that the composure is such a big and important part (and) that no matter how well you practice, or how poor you practice, or how good the play was, or how bad the play was, the next play is the only one that matters,” he said. “I think composure is a big part of it, and I think each one of these guys have learned that from Jake (Fromm). I think Jake had a set routine he did during the week, and he set a standard pretty high for the quarterback position in terms of preparation.”

…If Smart knows who his starting quarterback Saturday will be, he is still not telling. When asked if he is told his team, Smart was blunt with his response.

"I would say that’s a team decision, and we keep our team stuff to ourselves,” Smart said.