Kirby Smart met with the media Tuesday to give injury updates on a few bulldogs. His quotes are in italics. 

Opening Remarks: We started on our bye week prep today. I thought the guys had good energy. We didn't have a great practice, but we had good energy. That was important. We're really working hard on conditioning and connection. Trying to get some guys healthy and well but also get some good work in. Our offensive and defensive coaches have targeted some areas that we want to work on to get better at. We kind of take a picture of where we are, what we can do to get better, and how we can practice it better to get better results. That's what we started on today. We do work on future opponents. We worked on a team that's further out today, a little less further out tomorrow, and then start on Florida prep on Wednesday or Thursday.

On Lawson Luckie: You don't fast track an injury. Really, with any injury, you do what the medical staff tells you and what the body tells you. Lawson's done a fabulous job of rehabbing from his. Lawson's a really tough kid. Both parents were college athletes. He's not afraid of work. He's done a great job. I still don't think Lawson's 100%, but he's been cleared to play since Auburn. He just hasn't quite been ready to play. 

On Brock Bowers: The key is to get him back healthy. There is no timeline for when he comes back to play. The timeline is when he's healthy. I don't think you can put a timeline on it. Historically, we've had guys that come back really fast and come back really slow. Each one has been different. 

Smart added that he doesn't want to speculate on when Brock could return. He's focused on getting this team better and getting Brock healthy. 

On Xavier Truss: Truss did not practice today, but Truss was weight-bearing in the second half of the game. He was on the sideline. His deltoid was a little bit hurt, but it's not tightrope or anything like that. He should be fine. He should be good to go. I don't know if he'll be good to go by Thursday, but should be good to go by Monday. 

On Amarius Mims: He's working his way back. He's running, weight-bearing, and moving around. I thought he looked much better yesterday when we did some stretch and stride stuff. He's been out there at practice but hasn't taken any reps. It's going to be a timetable for him, just like it is for everyone else. When they can play at a winning rate, they'll get a chance to go back out there. 

On Kendall Milton: He did some stuff. He was able to go out there and practice. I feel good about Kendall. It was not a high-rep day for him.

On How Brock's Taking the Injury: Brock Bowers is great. Brock Bowers is Brocksolid. He wanted to get this thing done as soon as he found out it had to be done. We were able to expedite that process, and he's great. He looked everybody in the eye today and wishing he could be out there. He's in good spirits. He's got a great family and a great heart. He's a warrior, so he'll handle it the right way. 

On Monroe Freeling: About three weeks ago, I called him in and told him you realize you're one play away. Every rep you take in practice, you should be imagining a road game in the stadium ready to go. Sure enough, it happened. I thought he did a good job. There's a lot of things he can work on, but there's butterflies in that. Fortunately, he had gotten to play in some games, but not in that situation. I was thrilled he got to go out there and get some confidence. He's a really good athlete. He's a worker. He'll work really hard to get better.

On Oscar Delp's Role: He's not in a bigger role. He's in the same role, which is to help our team. I don't believe that for one second, he's in a bigger role. There are a lot of positions that can be in those spots. Delp, Dom, Dillon Bell, and Marcus Rosemy can all be in those spots. It's not built around one person doing one thing. It's built around plug in. You can do it 10 personal, 11 personal, and you can do it in 13 personal. A good offense is that way. I'm not going that route on the Oscar Delp thing. Delp is going to do what he's always done... Play as hard as he can and play winning football. 

Initial Thoughts on Florida: I can't give you comments on Florida. I've only watched a couple of games. I'll watch more as the week goes on. 

On Ladd McConkey: He did well today. He practiced today. Probably did more today than he's done on the Tuesdays in the past, but he also had Monday and Sunday off. I feel good about where he's at, but also he's day to day. 

On Where UGA Can Improve: The Obvious. The areas we can improve in defensively. The red area is a key area. Forcing more turnovers is a huge area. The offense needs to run the ball and be explosive running the ball. We want to continue to do that. Improving in the red area. We've had games where we were elite offensively in the red area and had games where we had to settle for field goals. Those usually come by losing 1st and 2nd down. Those are areas we can get better at. Special is one by one. There's things we can do better.  

On the UGA Redzone Defense: It's hard to pinpoint because every game, it's been a different person or different thing. There is no common theme. Everybody is taking turns. This guy got beat he had bad eyes. This guy had great leverage and got beat. This guy gave up a run in his gap...He didn't run the right stunt. Then sometimes they just whip you. South Carolina ran it in on us. We say at Georgia, we're not going to let you run it in... Some teams have. 

On What He's Seen From Carson Beck in 7 Games: He plays very consistent winning football... When he plays within the system. Sometimes, when he tries to do too much, he gets himself in trouble. He's played at a really high level to me.

On Smael Mondon: Smael's been a good leader. Smael's closer to being 100%. He played early in camp on an injury that a lot of people take a long time to come back from. He made it back in 4 months and was able to go play early in the season. The early season was like his camp. He's back up to speed and doing a good job. I think he's really wanting to have a good back half of the season and play more physical and faster. I can count on him to do that. 

On What He Wants the Focus of Team On: The back half of the week will be about Florida, and the front half will be about us. The focus is on us and how we can get better. 

Photo Courtesy of Charles Jordan