Defensive end Dexter Morant walked up to Mark Richt before practice Tuesday with his car keys in his hands. The Manning, S.C., native had been toying with the idea of hanging up his cleats and not playing football any longer.

DEXTER MORANT

And Wednesday, he was no longer a Bulldog. He made an amicable exit despite his coaches’ efforts to convince him to stay with the program.

“Football’s just not for everybody and I think he felt like he lost the desire to play,” Richt said. “We tried to convince him that it would be in his best interest to stay and fight through it because a lot of guys have been through that before. In the end, he just really felt like it wasn’t for him, at least not right now. So we honored that. You can’t make him stay. He just didn’t wanna do it.”

Richt said Wednesday he didn’t know what Morant’s next move would be, and said he didn’t think Morant would pursue playing football at any other school, at least any time soon.

“He even said, ‘Coach, if I really wanted to play football, Georgia’s where I’d wanna be I just don’t know if that’s what I wanna do right now.’ It was more like he felt like he lost the desire to play … I wish him the best. He’s a good kid.”

It’s getting hot out there on the practice field

Mark Richt morphed into a weatherman for the opening of his meeting with the media Wednesday. He described the weather of the first two days of practice, comparing it to Wednesday’s weather.

The common theme? The heat.

But Richt said the players dealt with the heat well and they “finished (practice) really extremely well.”

The head coach did mention offensive tackle Austin Long made it through practice, but struggled when he carried his pads back to the locker room the last couple practices.

“Austin Long (struggled with the heat), who hasn’t been practicing football in a while now because of his back last year. Although yesterday, he made it to the very end though the heat kinda jumped on him a little bit. Maybe carrying those pads did it to him a little bit.”

Ealey, King in outstanding physical condition

Richt addressed the one-two punch of Washaun Ealey and Caleb King. He said the duo are in better shape now than they were this time last year, calling King’s physical condition now the “best shape of his career.” He also said the two are still even in the starting race, as far as a depth chart is concerned.

Head coach Mark Richt said running backs Washaun Ealey and Caleb King are in the best physical shape of their careers. Photo by WES BLANKENSHIP

“(Their competition is) really healthy. They really like each other. They kinda feed off each other,” Richt said. “I think they know they’re both gonna get their opportunites. They wanna be a great tandem … right now those two are pretty solid cone No. 1’s in my mind.”

Other notes

* Richt said although the squad is allowed to be in full pads and tackling Friday, the Bulldogs won’t get in their full get up until Saturday.

* Richt said wide receiver Tavarres King has “absolutely done everything I’ve asked him to this point” in regards to his post-underage possession of alcohol arrest July 10. Richt also said King’s suspension will most likely not exceed the mandatory one-game suspension dictated by the athletic department’s rule regarding alcohol-related incidents.

* Quarterback Aaron Murray is “having a great time” during preseason camp. The redshirt freshman gave run-of-the-mill answers when asked how he is feeling about leading the squad and taking reps with first team offense. But the charismatic Tampa, Fla., native spat those answers out with more pizazz.

“Definitely making progress,” Murray said. “Our goal is to continue getting better everyday and we got 29 practices, three down and 26 to go. We’re looking good right now so I’m feeling good. Keep working and keep grinding. Keep getting better.

Injuries

Cornerback Chad Gloer and offensive guard Tanner Strickland jogged across the endzone, both in green no-contact jerseys. A hamstring issue has been nagging Gloer and Strickland is still nursing a sore shoulder.

Linebacker Akeem Dent was on the bike again today. By the time he is able to run again, he may be able to give Lance Armstrong a run for his money.

Quips from Wednesday:

BEN JONES

Mark Richt on center Ben Jones being a country boy: “There’s a picture in the training room of this gigantic pig and this little bitty boy laying on the belly of the pig and then there’s a little arrow that says ‘Ben Jones.’ So I figured the teammates were just spoofing him because he’s a country boy and all that stuff so I thought that was pretty funny. Then come to find out that was Ben Jones laying on that big pig when he was a kid. So he’s country. He’s a country boy.”

Arthur Lynch on people mistaking him for a Jersey boy: “They talk about Jersey Shore a lot. It’s funny, I have friends who are into all that thing (GTL: gym, tan, laundry) that I went to high school with. People are like, ‘Those people can’t be real.’ And I’m like, ‘They’re out there. I go to school with some.’ It’s all right. It’s all fun and games. People get a kick out of it.”

Lynch on his friends and family’s southern stereotypes: “Everyone thinks there’s no cities (in the south) and everyone thinks it’s just real country and people just hunt all the time … People are more polite down here and up north people are more direct, kinda go where you need to go.”