Kirby Smart hasn’t totally given up the idea of employing a fullback in Georgia’s current offensive scheme.

He’s just not going to use a scholarship to make it happen.

"I wouldn't say we've stopped. If we had one it'd be great, but we're not investing a scholarship in one right now, because we're not a two-back team. So much of what we do, you have Mecole (Hardman) catching these passes and all these things, that would be trading a spot for a fullback. I don't think any fan would vote that we trade a slot receiver for a fullback right now,” Smart said after practice on Tuesday. “So, we're just looking to be explosive, be dynamic, and we still think we can be physical with tight ends and not necessarily have a fullback. If a fullback comes along, and falls into our hands, or a linebacker can play fullback, we'd be all for it. That's just not who we are right now.”

Don’t look for that way of thinking to change.

Whatever additional help is needed with the run game, it’s going to be done by bringing in an extra lineman, or use the tight ends, either as traditional inline blockers or as an H-back.

That’s certainly a change from last year when Christian Payne played the traditional fullback role. This year, the Bulldogs don’t list a single fullback on their roster.

Middle linebacker Natrez Patrick says the quartet of Isaac Nauta, Charlie Woerner, Luke Ford, and John FitzPatrick play the role well.

“Definitely. Those guys are physical as all get out and they’re actually bigger than Payne was,” Patrick said, “Payne was just different mentally. He had a different head on his shoulders, but those guys are physical, man, and they are big. They can cover us up.”

Smart agreed.

"It's different. Call it what you want. Some people call if fullback, H-back, whatever. It's just whether you're two back, one back, whatever you want to call it. That's what we do. They don't line up as fullbacks, they line up as H-backs or tight ends. It's really a matter of semantics to me, because somebody's fixing to go block somebody,” Smart said. “I'd rather have guys who can block people, play on special teams, catch balls, run patterns, and those guys can do that sometimes a little better than fullbacks. You're a little more predictable with a fullback I think and Luke (Ford) is coming on. It's important for Luke to grow so we can get some depth and John FitzPatrick's getting better as well."

Left tackle Andrew Thomas missed his second straight day of practice as he recovers from his sprained ankle suffered in Saturday’s win over South Carolina.

“He didn’t practice today,” Smart said. “Still not able to practice. He’s better but we don’t know if he’s going to be able to play the game or not.”

If Thomas is not able to go, freshman Cade Mays will start in his place.

Smart said he’s still willing to wait a couple of more days to see how Thomas’ injury responds.

“I would want him to at least practice by Thursday. He’s played enough,” Smart said. “If he didn’t practice by Thursday, it’s probably not looking good.”

“They’ve done a good job. We’ve got to get better, we’ve got to get more explosive, we’ve got to play better defensively as a whole unit. Those guys are playing really hard, and I thought Tyler (Clark) gave us some really good plays early on Saturday. It’s tough sometimes, with the way we rush the quarterback. It’s not easy to get sacks all the time. We don’t just cut guys loose because of the way we play in the secondary. We’re a little bit of a different style than most people.

“But those kids work hard, they practice hard, and we’ve got a committee there. We’ve got some big bodies, and we’ve got a lot of guys who play. We play eight or nine guys up front to keep them fresh, keep them rushing hard, and Tyler and Rochester are kind of the leaders of that group. (Jonathan) Ledbetter as well.” – Kirby Smart on the play so far of the defensive line.

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“Strength. He’s powerful, he can play all the positions. He’s smart, never complains, he’s the toughest guy in the room. Hurt and never complains, practices and never complains. He’s a worker, and he’s really strong. He’s at the point of attack, they don’t move him, and that’s allowed him to be an unsung hero. He doesn’t play a lot of third downs, but he gets us to third down, and that’s important. He knows his role.” – Smart on David Marshall and what causes him to flash on the field.

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"He practices really hard, man. It's really important to Poole. He's a great kid and he continues to learn and get better, but that's one of the spots. And many spots in the secondary, we have to play better. We have to play at a higher level to be successful, to beat teams we have to beat. He's a grinder. He comes in every day to work, and I know he gets tired of me coaching him, because I'm on him every day." – Smart on William Poole’s progression at Star.

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“Confidence. Just playing with more confidence and getting his hands on people. He didn't play bad the other day. He was against a good receiver and a good quarterback, and gave up a big play at the end. I think that he's a kid who's going to get better, and the only way he's going to get better is play. We've said that over and over, that we've got to go through some growing pains with these guys, because we lost a lot of productive players in the secondary, and Tyson continues to work hard." – Smart on Tyson Campbell's development.