Sports

Aaron Murray warms up during practice -- March 24, 2011

ATHENS, Ga — The Georgia Bulldogs were back on the practice fields Thursday afternoon completing their final spring practice without full pads.

Head coach Mark Richt called Tuesday’s practice “a bit sluggish”, following the 12 day layoff between practices following spring break, but he says the practice Thursday afternoon was much better.

“It was a good day of competition, like I hoped it would be,” said Richt. “It was very highly spirited.”

Mark Richt and the coaching staff made many positional changes before spring practice that affected both sides of the ball. The early practices will give these players the opportunity to learn about their new position.

Of the notable changes on the defensive side, Jarvis Jones has made the transition from inside linebacker to outside linebacker, and Alec Ogletree has moved from safety to inside linebacker.

“[Ogletree] is doing a really good job,” said junior inside linebacker Christian Robinson. “He’s still working, but his footwork is getting better. He still needs to get in linebacker shape.”

In the time the media was allowed to attend practice; Tavarres King, Branden Smith, and Brandon Boykin were fielding kicks.

The Bulldogs also spent the early part of practice learning about punt coverage and block assignments. The majority of defensive players were on the field being taught how to block, release, and get in their lanes—all important facets of being successful in the punting phase of the game.

Special focus on the early part of practice as Richt and coaches go over punt coverage assignments -- March 24, 2011

The Bulldogs will return to the practice fields Saturday morning, where they will put on full pads for the first time this spring.

“We will set up every drill for competition,” said Richt looking forward to Saturday’s practice. “There will be a winner, and there will be a loser.”

Saturday will also be Junior Day at Georgia, where top level high school talent will come to Athens, Georgia. This will give these high school juniors  the opportunity to attend practice, meet the coaches, tour the facilities, and to learn more about the University of Georgia.

Georgia’s annual spring game, G-Day, will kick off Saturday, April 16, at 1:00 in Sanford Stadium and will be televised on CSS.

Continue to come back to WUOG Sports for continuous updates of Georgia Bulldog spring football.

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