It’s always a big game for Georgia when the Bulldogs are matched up against arch-rival Tennessee.

For freshman offensive lineman Cade Mays, it no doubt means more.

There’s a number of reasons why. Mays’ dad Kevin was a team captain on Tennessee’s 1994 team, earning All-SEC honors and numerous other awards. His uncle also played for Tennessee.

At one point, the younger Mays was going to follow the family path, having chosen the Vols as a high school sophomore in 2015. Mays was actually committed to Tennessee for two full years before backing out of his agreement. That decision enraged many in the Big Orange Nation.

Saturday afternoon (3:30, CBS), Mays will line up against his hometown team for the first time.

“I think Cade’s a bright kid, comes from a really good family. I think they acknowledge it’s a big deal for them, since his dad played there. He’s a legacy and all that, but at the end of the day, when you get between the lines, a lot of that stuff fades out,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “You start playing the game, you play physical, you play hard. He wants to do as good as he can, but he’s got to focus on what his assignments are, playing football. Hopefully, he’ll be a guy out there, we still don’t know how the lineup is going to play out, but he’s a great guy and he plays hard. At the end of the day, I know he’ll give an A effort.”

Mays has already seen considerable action for the Bulldogs, first as the replacement at left tackle for Andrew Thomas following his sprained ankle at South Carolina. He made his first career start at the position in Georgia’s Week 3 win against Middle Tennessee.

With Thomas expected to be back and starting in Saturday’s game, Mays has been practicing at right guard in place of the inured Ben Cleveland. But Smart said nothing’s set in stone. He's just glad he made the decision he did.

“It’s a place he knew he had a chance to come in and play. He wanted to play for championships. I know that’s important to him, and he really had a good relationship with Coach (Sam) Pittman,” Smart said. “At the end of the day that long-term relationship with him probably won out, especially with them having a new staff coming in.”

Wide receiver Tyler Simmons remains unable to practice after injuring his shoulder against Missouri.

“I still don’t know on Tyler. He hasn't been able to do much the last two days,” Smart said. “He’s running, which is positive, (but) obviously it’s not his lower body (that’s hurt). But whether or not he’ll be able to play this game, we’re not sure. But he’s trying to get back.”

. . . Freshman defensive back Divaad Wilson (ACL) has yet to be cleared for practice, but the Florida native is able to take part in on-field conditioning drills and, according to Smart, is making progress to return to the field.

“He’s doing some good things. He’s out there practicing,” Smart said. He’s out there running around, moving. He’s competitive; he’s on scout team, just trying to build back his confidence. But I’m not sure when he’ll be cleared for live contact and tackle.”

On paper, Georgia’s depth appears to be as good if not better than most teams in the SEC.

Just don’t tell that to Smart.

“I don’t think you ever have enough depth. I don’t think any coach in the country will tell you, "I feel really good about my depth." If I had to say that, I'd say it would be at receiver,” Smart said. “Outside of that, I don’t know that I feel really good about our depth. You can never have enough good, ready to play players. We’re certainly going through that now.”

But apparently there's hope.

Smart said he’s starting to see some of his younger players make some strides, thanks to their work on the scout team. Before the year is over, he feels, they could make an on-field impact.

“We’re also developing our young players. I don’t think enough people worry about that during the season. It’s a young season, and at some point, we’re going to need somebody to play,” Smart said. “We give the 3s reps. We put our best players on the scout team. Malik Herring is a guy that played 15 to 20 snaps. He played on the scout team last week. You know what? He played really good in the game because of that. We send guys down all the time to be scout team players and come back. I think that organization in practice really helps develop your players. I see it in Luke Ford. He’s getting better every practice. He’s down with us getting slobber-knocked. That’s the best way to get better.”

Middle linebacker Monty Rice (knee) is expected to return to action Saturday against Tennessee and count position mate Natrez Patrick happy that he's back.

"I can’t recall the last time I played 60 to 70 plays," Patrick said. "That rotation helps, man, it helps a lot, and I’m so glad he’s back."

Smart agrees.

“Yeah, it would be a big bonus for us. He’s practiced every day, but he did last week. He’s definitely moving around better. He looks much better. Last week it was rough on him, so I don’t know what percentage you could say he’s at," Smart said. "I certainly hope he plays. He’s physical. We need him; he brings a mentality and toughness to our defense that we need. He strikes people. Just hope he plays, because we have depth problems when he doesn’t. It’s not the same as it was previously.”

Patrick agreed.

"He’s a trustworthy guy, does what he’s supposed to do, practices hard. So it’s definitely a weight off everybody’s shoulders," he said. "Getting those fresh legs, getting another guy in there, that's going to be big."

Middle linebacker Monty Rice traveled to Missouri last week but didn't play,

“I was going to say work has led to (Ridley's improvement). But then you would say, well, he didn’t work last year. Riley Ridley works hard. He works hard at practice. He competes at practice. It’s important to him. He’s one of the highest numbers on the GPS systems every day, he just really competes. It’s important to him. But it was that way last year. We’ve got a quarterback who’s played a whole year, that has a lot to do with it, instead of his first college games. I think that has a lot to do with it. He’s playing with confidence, he’s playing fast.” – Smart on Riley Ridley.