Practice Report: Georgia puts on full pads, update on RB position

ATHENS, Ga. — The sun is out in the Classic City and it’s hot on the Woodruff Practice Fields. That’s what Georgia is dealing with during it’s sixth preseason practice and its first in full pads. Reporters were allowed to see approximately 15 minutes and below DawgsHQ shares everything we saw and heard.

*** Once again Kirby Smart was on a warpath. He was getting after some players on the microphone about drops and practice habits. The eighth-year head coach had a lot of reporters and guests out at practice, including Jeff Foxworthy, but he was not pulling punches.

*** I watched the quarterbacks for just a couple of minutes and it was much better than the first practice. Carson Beck was probably the sharpest of the group while I watched but I thought Gunner Stockton and Brock Vandagriff also looked quite impressive. Yazeed Haynes had a really nice catch and showed some explosiveness. Also saw some good things out of Ladd McConkey and Dominic Lovett.

*** The Georgia offensive line, from left to right, included Earnest Greene, Xavier Truss, Sedrick Van Pran, Tate Ratledge, and Amarius Mims. Austin Blaske, Micah Morris, Jared Wilson, Dylan Fairchild, and Chad Lindberg, from left to right, made up the second team. I saw Jamal Meriweather working some at right tackle and Bo Hughley at left tackle. I’m told that Greene and Blaske are both getting first-team reps when they go to team periods but that’s two practices in a row were we’ve seen Greene primarily with the ones during individual period.

*** Mykel Williams was much more active in today’s practice than he was on Thursday. I watched him go through some sled drills and he’s incredibly explosive. He’s more heavy-handed than I remember seeing last year. He was going alongside Nazir Stackhouse and those two made a different sound than the rest when they punched the sled. Also, seeing Georgia true freshman Jordan Hall in full pads, he has definitely leaned up since the spring.

*** I spent more time watching the Georgia outside linebackers today and I was impressed with the twitch and fluidity of Marvin Jones Jr. Chidera Uzo Diribe had those guys working on a drill where they redirected the tight end and then dropped into a zone. Jones looked almost effortless, much like Darris Smith and Chaz Chambliss. Damon Wilson also did a nice job during the drill. It looked to me like CJ Madden, Samuel M’Pemba, and Gabriel Harris had a little stiffness that made them look a little more sluggish than the others.

*** I’ve already made a board post about it but Kamari Lassiter is battling some sort of injury and was not with the defensive backs. Instead he was down at the end of the field running with Smael Mondon, Rara Thomas, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, and Kendall Milton. We know Milton is dealing with a hamstring. Thomas also seems to be dealing with a similar injury. I saw him reach back and pat the back of his leg as Ron Courson walked up.

Feel free to call me class-half-full here but I also think it’s a good sign that Milton and Ingram-Dawkins are out there running. The fact that they aren’t shut down means that they are on the way back.

*** I also noted that Branson Robinson was with the running backs during individual drills and that’s great news. He was going full speed as they worked on pass protection. When the team jogged out for a pass skeleton drill, Robinson seemed to have a slight limp but nothing major.

*** Speaking of that drill, I got a look at what Georgia’s DIME package looks like for now. Daylen Everette and Nyland Green were the cornerbacks. David Daniel-Sisavahn and Malaki Starks were the safeties. Then you had Tykee Smith and Javon Bullard playing the MONEY and STAR positions.

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