Kirby Smart wasn’t ready to confirm published reports that wide receiver London Humphreys will miss Saturday’s game at Alabama with mono.

“We’ll see when the (availability) reports come out,” Smart said during Wednesday’s SEC teleconference. “We still don't have a lot of verification on some things, so that's what we do the injury reports for.”

Humphreys was indeed listed as out when the SEC released its availability report Wednesday night.

The Vanderbilt transfer has played in all three games for the Bulldogs this year with two catches for 63 yards and a touchdown that he scored in the opener against Clemson.

The news that UNLV starting quarterback Matt Sluka was leaving the program over an NIL dispute was a popular topic of conversation during Wednesday’s SEC teleconference.

Smart was asked to give his take.

“I certainly don't have an answer to know that. I don't think anybody does,” Smart said. “I think it's more about the relationship and the connection and knowing the players you sign, and the better you know them and the better they know you, then you have good communication, the expectations of what it's going to be like when you join our team and how we practice and what we do.”

That’s a point Smart said the Bulldogs make exceptionally clear.

“The only time you end up a lot of times in those situations is when communication breaks down and someone maybe has a different expectation than you do, and they're shocked by what they go through in terms of what the program consists of and what the demands are,” Smart said. "So, we try to find people that seek hard and enjoy being in a tough program because we feel like football is a tough sport to play. If you will run from that or look elsewhere, we would prefer not to sign.”

Wednesday’s teleconference wasn’t going to go by without another question on Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe.

Specifically, his mobility, and the difficulty it can cause playing a quarterback with that specific skill set.

“I mean, mobile quarterbacks are really hard to defend. They're more and more prevalent,” Smart said. “I think the evolution of football has become more of a passing game than it was years ago, and therefore defenses have adapted, and they try to come after the quarterback.”

Milroe’s athleticism is well-documented.

His ability to improvise and use his legs to make big plays is one of his strengths, and certainly an area Georgia’s defense will have to work hard to contain.

“A lot of times you really can't contain them. There are six gaps up there if they have five linemen. So when you start doing the math, unless you're bringing six guys, you don't have the gaps covered. And the guys that you have rushing them are not the same athlete that the quarterback is,” Smart said. “So, you've got mismatches and open gaps, and that creates an opportunity for a really good athlete to move around and extend plays. So, it's tremendously difficult.”

• Smart on the key controlling explosives:

“It's how you manage it, how well and disciplined we play down the field with our eyes. There's a lot of things that go into that. They are an explosive team,” Smart said. “We have limited explosives but when those two usually meet head-to-head it can go both ways.”

• Credit given to Kalen DeBoer for not trying to change everything at Alabama.

“I think the smartest thing he's done is he hasn't changed everything,” Smart said. “Offensively they have some similarities because they have the same quarterback, and we'll probably see a lot more wrinkles that they haven't shown but for the most part they've kept some of the staples that they had last year because it probably makes the quarterback comfortable.”

• Smart said his pre-game speeches are more about reassuring players.

“You talk about things that we did well, things that you can be really positive about, and reassure them that they've checked that box,” Smart said. “That list grows the closer we get to the game. My thoughts grow a little more the night before. It's not like a set time where I sit down and do anything.”