The Monday night Richt report

The news was good on DE Demarcus Dobbs, who merely sprained an ankle. Dobbs missed Monday’s practice and was seen in a walking boot.

“I would think before the week’s out he’ll be back,” Georgia head coach Mark Richt said. “I don’t think it was too severe.”

- It was a busy day on the injury front, and not all because of bad news. (See previous post about seemingly half the team being in green non-contact jerseys.)

“A lot of guys that have been hurt are beginning to trickle back to the field, which is good,” Richt said.

Starting center Ben Jones had a rapid recovery, returning to the field eight days after minor knee surgery. (Well, minor to everyone except him.) But his backup, Chris Burnette, suffered a concussion a few days ago and was out of practice.

Receiver Logan Gray should be back in full contact mode by the end of this week, Richt added. Gray, who sprained his ankle last week, was jogging in green Monday.

Freshman DE Dexter Morant was out of Monday's practice after hurting his shoulder. Richt didn’t know how bad it was.

Senior ILB Akeem Dent got his first work with the other linebackers since camp opened. So did fellow inside linebacker Richard Samuel, but Dent is in much better shape.

“Dent has a lot more experience playing linebacker. Just reps, his whole life, playing linebacker, and throughout his career at Georgia. So it would affect him less than it would affect Richard,” Richt said. “Richard would need all the reps he can get.”

- Meanwhile, the team still hasn’t decided whether true freshman Hutson Mason will play this year. He’s getting second-team snaps now, but Logan Gray is still available to play if something happens to Aaron Murray.

Richt said such a decision was coming soon. (Of course that seems a very tentative decision, since you could foresee scenarios where Mason would have to burn a redshirt.)

- On other fronts, Richt still expects to play a lot of receivers and tight ends, and doesn’t seem too concerned with pinpointing a No. 2 receiver opposite A.J. Green. In fact, Richt said he expects to have a lot of substitution at every offensive skill position “except quarterback.”

- After three weeks, and now one day, Richt is getting antsy.

“It’s about time to play a game, really,” he said. “I’m real glad we’re breaking into scout teams and preparing to play an opponent.”