Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart and two players, Lawson Luckie and Malaki Starks, met with the media Tuesday afternoon ahead of the game against the Florida Gators on Saturday.
Below is a transcript of the press conference which was provided by UGA.
Head Coach Kirby Smart
On practice this week…
“It’s good. Monday, I thought was good. We were fresher coming off the three-day break, so I thought Monday was good. We did more than we do on a typical Monday, but didn’t try to overdo it with them coming back. Then we had our normal in-season Tuesday today and the guys seemed good.”
On what stands out to him about Florida’s DJ Lagway…
“A lot stands out. He’s got great size. He’s got great arm strength. He’s got really good pocket mobility. He’s got a great offense around him. They do a good job, they run the ball and they set up shots off of the run. When you’re stubborn about running it, then you open yourself up to a lot of play action shots. He throws a great deep ball. He has been very consistent with that, and he seems to be mature beyond his years. It’d be different if this was his first game, but he’s played quite a bit this year. He’s played really well.”
On kickoff times affecting recruiting…
“I don’t see a big difference in 3:30 and 7:30 in terms of recruiting. They can come to the game either way. You can make the case that the atmosphere is better at night. I get what he’s saying there, but my concern is with Florida.”
On pocket presence…
“I don’t know that anybody’s born with it, but well-coached guys are good at it because they’ve been coached to do it at a young age. Some guys have never been coached to do it, and they have to learn. I think it’s a trait that you can have, it’s a trait that you can experience. And once you have success doing it, it tends to be successful, especially when you have the ability to tuck it up and run. There’s always more air vertical in the pocket than there is escaping around it, unless you’re just a super freak athlete and you can outrun everybody going around you.”
On what Tate Ratledge and Jordan Hall…
“Both have wrapped up in terms of reps. Tate [Ratledge] took quite a bit yesterday. I don’t know how many he took today, but I know it was more than yesterday. He’s getting more available, but we’re trying to be smart in terms of his volume. And Jordan [Hall]’s done more. He still has moments where it bothers him, but I thought yesterday was Jordan’s best day yet. I think those three days off really helped him. I’ll have to watch today and see how he was; I don’t really remember.”
On how Trevor Etienne…
“He’s a really good receiver. He catches the ball well out of the backfield, as most of our backs do. Nate [Frazier] does, Cash [Jones] does. If you play man-to-man, he’s one-on-one with the backer. If you play zone, then he can catch the ball underneath to turn it into a big game. All backs that can catch the ball out of the backfield are just that much more dangerous because it’s hard to get through the defensive lines in the SEC. It’s much easier when you catch the ball past them. You get to exploit that and have some explosives, and he’s a good pass catcher.”
On the impact that Tate Ratledge and Mykel Williams’ injuries have on other teammates…
“I think our players respect injuries. Almost every guy on our team has missed some practice at some point in time during their career. So they appreciate those guys giving effort to come back. I think it gives more depth and confidence to everybody when guys are back. I just respect both of them because they’ve tried to play hurt. This day and age, not everybody’s willing to play hurt. Mykel particularly, he’s got a lot at stake, and he knows that he’s not 100%. But he’s been out there competing for his team and showing his toughness, and he’s played pretty well.”
On Branson Robinson and Smael Mondon…
“I don’t know the timeline on either of those guys. So, when you say closer, I mean, they’re closer, because they’re closer than they were yesterday. But I don’t know how close they are. I don’t know what it looks like for them in terms of when they’re able to come back.”
On getting to know Trevor Etienne’s family as a transfer rather than a high school recruit…
“I would definitely say it’s harder to do it as a high school recruit. We don’t always meet the family when they come in business and talk to them. I’ve had to meet his mom and communicate with her. She’s a great lady, he’s a great kid, but it’s so different when they’re older. And a lot of them are making the decision for different reasons. Like it’s a move, and I’m not saying his specifically, but several of the people we’ve taken. It’s a one-year deal, it’s a two year deal, it’s looking for a change, it’s whatever. But he’s been great, he’s been awesome. But I didn’t get to go recruit him, sit in his house, have the sophomore, junior, senior year relationship. But you also get more valid information about people, usually because you call the place that he’s leaving in. And to be honest with you, most coaches will shoot you straight. They’ll tell you, just like the people call us about kids and ask, we’re going to tell them the truth. What was their class attendance? What was their practice habits? What kind of kid are they?”
On KJ Bolden…
“KJ’s (Bolden) been great. He’s been really confident in his checks. He’s extremely smart for his age. He had no real issues picking up our defense and he’s just very instinctive and intelligent. He’s a very bright kid, communicates really well. He’s got a lot of confidence in the defense. He’s got confidence in his ball skills. So, it’s been about physicality for him and maintaining his weight. We’ve really tried hard to keep his weight up. This is a long grind that he’s not used to, but I’m pleased with what KJ’s done at this point. All of our freshmen, they used last week to get more reps and gain more ground.”
On the second bye week vs. one…
“I don’t look at last week like it was a freshman week. It was a total team. We worked our entire team, and that’s more than freshmen, right? We worked everybody. Now, some of our older players took less live reps, but they did a lot more drill work, drill-specific things. Last week was a total team improvement goal. But the two bye weeks, I feel like this year, we’ve had more injuries than we’ve ever had. We’re dealing with it right now, more than we’ve ever had. I don’t know if that’s a fact, I just feel like with the two starters, we’ve missed on the offensive line, how beat up we are on the offensive line. The D-line how it was at the start of the year. We just had more lost time starters. The two bye weeks has helped a little bit with that because the schedule’s just been tough, just frivolous, and it’s not getting any easier. So, when you have less depth, more injuries. The two bye weeks actually has to help.”
On Joseph-Jonah-Ajonye…
“Joseph (Jonah-Ajonye) had to deal with a surgery that’s going to put him out for the rest of the year. He’s going to be out for the rest of the year to deal with a lower extremity injury. So he’s already had the surgery. He just didn’t get to go to Texas because of the injury.”
On the run game…
“It was well-planned. So, I’ll tell you about the first quarter, how I feel about the run game. It’s like the fast game. It’s relative to who you’re going against, and it’s relative to how they’re playing you. Not everybody’s playing us the same, and not everybody has the same X’s and O’s up there. We don’t really change our run game, game to game, right? We have different window dressings. Nobody does, you can’t put new runs in, you don’t invent runs. You take the runs you’ve worked on all year round, and you say, okay, how do these work against these fronts? In some cases, they work really well. We’ve had a different lineup at two positions, and really kind of a merry-go-round of guys playing up there. So there hasn’t been great continuity. I don’t think that’s really affected us. I think it’s been Trevor (Etienne) getting used to being in there, getting Nate (Frazier) warm, had Branson (Robinson) lost Branson, had Jared (Wilson) lost Jared, had Tate (Ratledge) lost Tate, and it’s been a bunch of different people. I’m very confident in our run game and our ability to run the ball because people have to honor our ability to throw the ball. That’s one of the things we do well, so they complement each other.”
#7 Lawson Luckie | So. TE
On bye week for freshmen….
“The bye week is huge just to get your legs back under you. It helped me a lot last year because I remember, I’m pretty sure the Vandy game, was the first game I was really back playing. Then, we went into Florida, so it took those two weeks. It really helped me get ready, and it’s done the same this year – getting your legs back under for the Florida game.”
On what the Florida rivalry means for him…
“Florida-Georgia’s the biggest game, one of the biggest games we play. It’s one of our biggest rivals, so that’s one of the games you always looked forward to as a kid. Now, it’s full circle. It’s one of the biggest games we look forward to all year.”
On the emphasis on the perimeter in the run game…
“Perimeter blocking is one of our biggest emphases especially with the RPOs and the screens out there. We just look at it as an extended part of the run game, but we think there’s a lot of hidden yards out there. So, we do a big emphasis on being a lead out there and have it be one of our biggest strengths.”
On the addition of Trevor Etienne….
“He’s been huge. Trevor’s brought a bunch of juice to the offense, and I think we all saw it at the Texas game. I think that was his coming out game, but we’ve known how good Trevor is for a long time now. I’m glad he’s showing the world that now.”
#24 Malaki Starks | Jr. DB
On secondary improvements…
“I think the biggest thing is really being aggressive. Whether it be in coverage or the ball down the field, I think if you look at the start of the season we weren’t that aggressive in attacking the ball. But go back to Texas, and there are hands on the ball everywhere. Whether it be in the run game or the ball in the air – whatever the case may be. I think we need to do a better job of coming down with the ball, but I think it’s just been being aggressive and letting loose.”
On the Georgia-Florida rivalry…
“I think it means a little different for different people. When I look back at it, my freshman year, I woke up with the flu. Last year, I was pretty sick when we played them, so I’ve been sick every year we’ve played Florida. So, I am really trying not to get sick this week. It’s always a good game, very physical. They’re a really good team. They run their program very similar to ours and vice versa. I like going out there and competing. You’re in Jacksonville and playing a great game with great players. It’s just an amazing spot to be in. ”
On defending the Florida wide receivers…
“They make plays. When the ball is in the air, they go get it. And after the catch, too, they’re making plays. They’re very explosive in that way. So, we just really have to be smart and play as a team, play as a unit. At the end of the day, we just have to do our job.”
Second-ranked Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) and Florida (4-3, 2-2 SEC) will square off on Saturday, Nov. 2 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The game will be televised by ABC and streamed via ESPN+ at 3:30pm ET (Buy Tickets).
Chris Fowler will call the play-by-play, Kirk Herbstreit will provide analysis, while Holly Rowe will report from the sidelines.