While today could have been the first day the Bulldogs could have gotten in full pads, head coach Mark Richt elected not to, saying tomorrow’s double practice was reasoning to not only keep them in shells, but cut the practice short.

“We could have been in full pads but we can’t tackle to the ground an some of the guys don’t understand that,” Richt said.

For tomorrow’s double practice, the Bulldogs will be in full pads all day. In the morning, the players will have a special teams scrimmage with no tackling to the ground and in the afternoon the Bulldogs will scrimmage and tackle to the ground.

Just to scare you, because I can

Running back Knowshon Moreno was wearing a green jersey today, which kept him away from contact.

Richt said running backs coach Tony Ball noticed Moreno favoring his left shoulder and made a coach’s decision.

“Moreno has had a nagging shoulder,” Richt said. “He’s fine, he played today.”

This should be of no concern but I’m sure the coaching staff will monitor this closely. Richt added if it weren’t for Ball noticing this, Moreno might not have said anything.

“Knowshon is the kind of guy who won’t go to the trainer for anything,” Richt said. “It was a coach’s decision.”

It’s possible Moreno might be held out a little tomorrow, but this really isn’t that big of a concern. He should be fine.

Speaking of injuries…

The good news for Georgia is no one got hurt today. In fact, that was Richt’s first announcement in his post-practice presser.

However, he did give some updates on some players who are a little banged up.

Tavarres King – had his ankle wrapped, not a big deal
Neland Ball – possible pulled muscle
Tony Wilson – “He’s kind of picking his shots. We’re not asking him to go the whole practice.”
Battle for offensive line spots wages on

Richt said freshman Cordy Glenn has caught his eye recently and is contention for the starting spot at right guard.

Richt also mentioned Josh Davis as a guy who might see some playing time, as he has come along at camp as well.

“Josh Davis is doing well,” Richt said. “He’s been under the radar a little bit.”

In addition to Glenn and Davis, Richt has mentioned Ben Jones, Tanner Strickland and Justin Anderson as guys who have stood out. Anyone who Richt hasn’t named, hasn’t been named for a reason.

“The other guys haven’t caught our eyes enough for us to say they deserve to fight for a starting spot,” Richt said.

Davis: Center or guard?

Richt said Chris Davis has been getting some looks at guard recently, possibly due to Ben Jones’ emergence as a center.

When asked if Davis was getting looks at guard, Richt confirmed he was. My take is that this is only when Jones is lined up at center.

The two concerns Richt had in the spring were…

Offensive line and kicker.

I asked him if those were still his concerns given the linemen he mentioned and the emergence of Blair Walsh.

Richt focused mostly on the kicker part of the question, saying it’s a little more settled but “not solid as a rock.”

Richt said he’s gained a lot of confidence in Walsh to be able to kick in games this season.

After that, Richt was asked about the rumors circulating that Walsh was nailing 65-yarders in practice (assuming from a stand or tee).

“He hasn’t attempted anything that far in practice,” Richt said.

Richt can’t get enough of Green

In the early parts of practice, one of the reporters (I wish I could remember who) saw Richt get a little excited when freshman receiver A.J. Green caught a pass on the sideline. So he asked him about it.

“It was on a corner route,” Richt said. “He’s got some range, man. He’s tall and long and if the ball’s near him, he can find a way to snatch it.”

The pass was high and going out of bounds, but Green went up, got it and stayed in. When asked who he would compare Green to, he couldn’t think of anyone at first.

“None that have been at Georgia since I’ve been here,” Richt said. “Not saying he’s the best, but there haven’t been any like him.”

Richt then said he meant that in terms of height, body size, arm length and speed.

Then, Mark Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald reminded Richt that he had Randy Moss for one year at Florida State. Richt pointed at him and said, “There you go.”

“We had Randy Moss, Peter Warrick, Laveranues Coles and Ron Dugans, all as freshman at Florida State,” Richt said. “(Florida State defensive coordinator) Mickey Andrews kept firing cornerbacks because he couldn’t understand how all these freshmen were beating them.”

Moss was at Florida State for only one season. He came into Tallahassee with two strikes becasue of off-the-field problems in high school. Needless to say, he earned his third strike and headed elsewhere.

But Richt’s eyes lit up a little when remembering Moss in practices.

“Everyday Randy did something,” he said. “You couldn’t throw enough bombs to that guy.”

Richt even had a conversation about it with former Florida State quarterback Brad Johnson, whom Richt coached, about it when Johnson and Moss were playing together in Minnesota.

“I told him to quicken his drop and throw the ball as far as you can and let him go get it,” Richt said.

After that, the discussion got back to Green and Richt reminded everyone to know that Green needs to play some games first.

“Let’s let him make a few plays in a game,” Richt said. “Then we’ll don him something.”

What to expect later

Tomorrow, be on the lookout for an X’s and O’s bit from Richt himself. He talked about a lot of things, including the spread offense and how the Georgia offense differs from the one he ran at Florida State. He talked for a good three or four minutes – maybe longer – on this so we will put up the transcript when we can.