Richt talks about Green, and what now

As you’d expect, head coach Mark Richt’s post-practice news conference was dominated by A.J. Green questions. Richt declined to comment on some things - like when he was asked if the penalty was too harsh.

On other questions, he was a bit more expansive.

On what he told the team:

“I just told them we’re gonna focus on this game and focus on who’s playing. Then we flexed and went to practice. We didn’t have a discussion. But I thought they practiced well. I don’t think the news affected them.”

When asked if he was surprised by the news:

“We all are very aware of what’s going on with AJ. Right now what’s most important for me is this game, so that’s what we’re gonna focus on.”

And …

“We’re gonna play whoever’s eligible to play.”

On how different the team will look the next three games:

“We are gonna appeal, of course, so we don’t know for certain right now. … If you kind of looked at us, what’d he miss, four games last year? … We’re still gonna run our system, we’re still gonna have guys that make plays. We’re still gonna run after people. It won’t change us a lot. … When A.J. is in there, those plays look a little bit different because of his abilities.”

And …

“We were gameplanning for him (being able to play). But the plan doesn’t really change. Like I said, last week Durham was in the game in a lot of the situations where A.J. would’ve been in the game.”

On Green’s reaction:

“He’s hurt. He’s sad. He’s sorry for what happened. He’s sorry for, you know, he’s sorry.”