Notes: Smith Stictly on D... For Now

(*Note: Be sure to check out my story in today's Telegraph on how Georgia's offensive players see the defense improving.)

With the dearth of healthy wide receivers Georgia has been able to work with this spring, it might be a surprise that rising sophomore Branden Smith hasn’t run a snap on the offensive side of the ball.

But after splitting time with the offense and defense as a freshman, Smith is spending this spring concentrating on his primary job – winning the starting job at cornerback.

“For the most part, he’s been working at corner,” said new defensive backs coach Scott Lakatos. “He’s got some things he does with special teams, but as far as how they’re going to utilize him of offense, that’s to be determined.”

Lakatos said he’s not averse to sharing Smith with the offense, but for now the speedy corner is working on fine-tuning his coverage skills as part of Todd Grantham’s new defensive scheme.

Last year, Smith rushed 17 times for 208 yards and two touchdowns, caught two passes for seven yards and finished with 14 tackles and two pass breakups while playing in all 13 games.

This spring he’s been splitting time between the first- and second-team units with fellow corner Vance Cuff and working occasionally at the nickel position.

“We’re trying to get him exposed to as much stuff as we can,” Lakatos said.

MURRAY BACK AT WORK

Aaron Murray has collected plenty of headlines this spring as he battles for the starting quarterback job, but it’s his brother who received some good news last week.

Josh Murray, a walk-on defensive back who arrived at Georgia with his brother last year, resumed practicing after missing most of the past nine months with a knee injury.

“He’s rehabbing,” Aaron Murray said of his brother. “He’s getting better. He’s slowly getting back. He started doing drills with the DBs finally.”

Josh Murray was a second-round selection by the Milwaukee Brewers in the Major League Baseball draft in 2007 but after two seasons in the minors decided to give football a try.

A knee injury flared up during fall camp last season, however, and Murray only practiced sporadically before undergoing surgery to clean up the injury. Although Murray is working at practice again, he is still limited but expected to be fully healthy by the fall and will compete for special teams and reserve defensive back duty.

“They pretty much had to get in there and clean it all up,” Aaron Murray said. “Hopefully it’ll be better in the next month or so.”

MORE INJURY UPDATES

Tailback Caleb King and wide receiver Marlon Brown, both in green non-contact jerseys last week, are expected to be back to full practices as early as today, giving Georgia a relatively complete roster to work with during the final week of spring drills.

The handful of players who remain sidelined, including linemen Trinton Sturdivant and A.J. Harmon and fullback Fred Munzenmaier, all are expected to be ready when fall camp opens in August, giving head coach Mark Richt reason to smile.

“It is by far the least amount of green shirts we’ve had in a long time,” he said.

The good news spread even further as freshman offensive lineman Austin Long was cleared to resume lifting weights more than a year after undergoing back surgery. Long has yet to practice fully in a Bulldogs uniform.

As of now, Richt said the only player still questionable for the start of fall camp is incoming freshman lineman Brent Benedict, who injured his knee in a game last October.

“That’s still up in the air, but we’re still very hopeful that he’ll be able to practice,” Richt said. “We’re not sure, but we’re hopeful.”

Updating the Spring Injuries

Figured you all might be interested in an updated list of the injuries Georgia will be dealing with this spring...

Justin Anderson (RSJr/OL) -- Shoulder injury, will be limited throughout the spring. Anderson will be in the mix for some playing time in the fall, but certainly won't be a favorite, and his absence this spring won't help his cause.

Austin Long (RSFr/OL) -- Back injury, will not participate this spring. Long underwent back surgery last year and is still only doing light workouts. He expects to be ready for full participation in the fall, but he'll essentially be starting his college career from scratch then.

Longo, Jeremy (RSSo/DE) -- Knee injury, will miss all of spring. Longo is an unfortunate case, and he's quickly approaching "bust" status. He's been injured virtually his entire career, and while he was already behind on the learning curve, things will get worse by missing a crucial month of practice in Todd Grantham's new 3-4.

Fred Munzenmaier (Jr/FB) -- Shoulder injury, will be limited during the spring. Munzenmaier's injury shouldn't affect his 2010 season much, as Shaun Chapas clearly has the starting job nailed down, and Munzenmaier has enough experience in the offense to pick up right where he left off in August.

Josh Murray (Sr/S) -- Shoulder injury, will be limited during the spring. Murray had name recognition coming in last season because he is the older brother of Georgia QB Aaron Murray. Josh could have a shot at some special teams work, but injuries have nagged at him since he arrived at Georgia, and he only had minimal work on the scout team in 2009.

Tanner Strickland (Jr/OL) -- Shoulder injury, will be limited during spring practice. Strickland suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery during offseason workouts last summer and is still not fully healed. He's been a weight-room wonder for much of his time at Georgia, but he has yet to see that translate into on-field performance, but a strong fall could put him in position for some playing time in a reserve role in 2010.

Trinton Sturdivant (Jr/OL) -- Knee injury, will miss spring practice. At this point, Georgia fans might best consider Sturdivant a luxury for next season rather than a key component of the offensive line. Sturdivant has missed virtually all of the past two seasons with two separate knee injuries. His most recent ACL tear wasn't nearly as serious as the one he suffered prior to the 2008 season, but he's nevertheless going to be a real wild card in 2010. If he's healthy and can perform anywhere near the level he did as a freshman in '07, it would be a huge boost for Georgia. But that's a big assumption at this point, and the Dawgs are probably better off hoping for a pleasant surprise than setting themselves up for another disappointment.

Those are the current crop of injuries. Here's another quick list of a few guys to keep an eye on:

Aaron Murray (RFr/QB) -- Murray is clearly the front-runner for the starting QB job, and a strong performance this spring would be helpful in easing some concerns of fans who know he's the biggest wild card on an offense that returns 10 starters. But he suffered through a broken leg his senior season in high school and was limited last spring because of it, then suffered arm fatigue and shoulder soreness last fall that may have been the determining factor in redshirting him. So is he injury prone? Not likely -- the leg injury was a freak thing, and the arm problems aren't uncommon for a guy getting a lot more work throwing than he probably ever had before. But the fact remains that, with a thin depth chart at the position and so much riding on his success, he can't afford another injury.

A.J. Green (Jr/WR) -- We all love A.J. How can you not? But despite all his greatness, he's been hurt for about 75 percent of his Georgia career, and that has limited how great he could be. He nearly hit the 1,000-yard mark as a freshman, but he did so with a nagging groin injury that stuck with him all season and had slowed him significantly by year's end. Last year, he dominated when healthy, despite few other offensive threats, but his season was cut short when he was injured against Florida, missed the Tennesssee Tech game with a lung bruise, then got hurt again in the first half against Auburn and missed the remainder of the regular season. So the idea here is this: Green at 75 percent is probably the best WR in the SEC. Green at 100 percent could be one of the two or three the best players at any position in the country.

Josh Davis (Sr/OL) -- Speaking of injury-prone players, Davis might fit the bill better than most. First off, he's undersized for a typical SEC tackle, so he puts a lot of strain on his body. The result was a serious shoulder injury that coast him last spring after two surgeries and forced him to miss the start of the 2009 season. Once he returned to the lineup, Georgia's running game flourished, but the injury bug cropped up once again as a sprained ankle kept him out of the Bulldogs' bowl game against Texas A&M. Davis should be 100 percent for spring, but he's being counted on unlike any previous season in his career, and he needs to stay healthy all year.

Caleb King (RSJr/RB) -- A healthy King means a dangerous running game for Georgia in 2010. The problem last year, however, was King wasn't consistently healthy. A nagging hamstring injury cost him his chance at a starting job during fall camp and held him out of the team's first two games. A concussion and broken jaw cost him the Tennessee game as well -- a game in which Georgia was completely frustrated on the ground. When healthy, however, King averaged more than 5 yards per carry, so keeping him on the field for 12 (or, ideally, 14) games this season would be a huge boost for Georgia's offense.

Jordan Love (RFr/CB) -- It's still a bit too soon to tell how much of an impact Love could have this season, but with Prince Miller's departure, there's playing time to be had, and at 6-foot, 190 pounds, Love has the size to fit into new DBs coach Scott Lakatos' defense well -- particularly as in nickel situations. But again, we just don't know what to expect from Love, since he missed almost all of last season with a toe injury -- originally suffered in high school -- that ended up requiring surgery. Love should be a full go this spring, and it will be interesting to see what he contributes.

Bruce Figgins (RSJr/TE) -- Figgins played hurt as a sophomore out of desperations, but missed all of last spring after having shoulder surgery. He served a six-game suspension to start the 2009 season and then elected to take a medical redshirt for the remainder of the year, in part due to lingering problems with his shoulder. While Georgia's tight ends -- Arthur Lynch, Orson Charles and Aron White -- turned in a solid campaign last year, their work as blockers, particularly in the running game, was short of where it needed to be. That's a role Figgins could fill nicely if he's back to full health in 2010.

Get to Know: Josh Murray

For the past few months, we've been catching up with some of Georgia's newest players to get to know a little more about them. When it comes to walk-on safety Josh Murray, you might find a few things you didn't know in the story I wrote for the Ledger-Enquirer on Sunday about Josh and his brother. You can also find a bunch more quotes from yesterday's blog post.

But, of course, there's more to Mr. Murray than just that, so we got to some more intriguing questions in this installment of "Get to Know"...

David Hale: You spent six years playing minor-league baseball. I've worked for a minor league team before and I've seen "Bull Durham," so I know you must have at least a few colorful stories. What's your most quintessential minor-league baseball story?

Josh Murray: It was actually my first year. I was 17 when I got drafted, and we were playing in Medicine Hat, Canada. When we were done playing that series, we were heading home to Ogden and had a day off the next day.

Unfortunately, it took 36 hours to get home. While we were in the middle of the mountains on the way home, we hit a cow. It was just laying on the ground and we were sitting there for six hours waiting for police to come. We finally got the cow up – it kind of moo’d its way off, and I think it wasn’t a good ending for the cow – and then we took a 12-hour detour, too, because our bus driver didn’t know how to get back.

We missed our first off day, and I had been waiting for an off day. It was the worst off I’ve been and I was like, is this really the life I want to live? It was tough.

DH: Speaking of tough, what's been the most difficult part of adjusting to football again after nearly 10 years away from the game?

JM: It’s just really learning all the plays and getting the formations down and everything like that. It’s kind of tough to study during camp because you’re going pretty much 24/7 non-stop. But right now I’ve got a little bit of time to prepare and stuff like that.

DH: Your brother, Aaron, is a highly recruited quarterback. I assume that gets him the star treatment. You, on the other hand, are a walk-on. So what's the life of the lowly walk-on like?

JM: It’s not bad at all. I’m just really blessed and enjoying being out here. Last year, I was done with baseball and I wasn’t really doing anything with my life. Right now, I would have taken No. 100-something if they had that. I’m just happy to be out here and part of a team right now. I’m blessed.

DH: Have you set any goals for yourself for this season?

JM: The goals are to get on special teams and try to help the team in any way I can. If they need me doing scout stuff during practice to try to help out the first string or second string, I’m willing to do that. I’m willing to do anything to make this team better. Definitely my goal is to get onto special teams and hit some people and help us win, to be a contributing factor.

DH: In doing these Q&As, I've asked a lot of the freshmen what celebrity they'd most like to meet. Given that you've been playing professional baseball for a while, I'm guessing you've already met a few. Who have you been the most impressed by?

JM: I’m good friends with Ryan Braun, he’s the left-fielder for the Brewers. His work ethic and his athleticism and stuff is really great. I also love watching one of my friends that I trained with, Denard Span, he’s playing with the Twins right now. He didn’t get frustrated with getting called up and sent back down and called up. He really perservered and I really admire him for that.

DH: OK, well is there still someone you'd like to meet that you haven't?

JM: The guy I’d most like to meet – it’s weird because I’m not a star-struck person at all, but like a lot of people, I’d love to meet Michael Jordan. Just the way he does everything, how he handles himself, how he prepares for games, the leader he is. I’d love to sit down and talk with him about all that stuff.

DH: What's your favorite meal?

JM: I’d say snow crab.

DH: Athens isn't exactly a snow crab town.

JM: No, I haven’t had it in a while. It’s only special times when I go back home or something like that.

DH: So have you found a go-to place around here to get a good meal?

JM: What we were doing is actually on Saturdays we would go and have Chinese and then watch a movie. That’s what we were doing every Saturday. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to do that during the season, but that was our ritual when we first got up here.

DH: What has it been like for you playing with your brother?

JM: It’s been really nice. We’re very into family. It’s a blessing that I can be up here with him. I get emotional at times when I think about it and talk to my parents. But it’s awesome having a younger brother that, even though I’m so much older, I can help him grow up, we can do things with each other. It’s great.

DH: So do your parents call you to get the dirt on what Aaron has been doing? Or is it the other way around?

JM: They call me sometimes to make sure Aaron’s doing well. But they’re talking to both of us.

DH: You're playing safety, so I assume you've gotten a good look at a few of Georgia's receivers. Who has impressed you the most?

JM: I’m not going to lie, the whole team has impressed me. It’s really nice going from a place where there’s not as much of a team to a team. This really is the true concept of a team, and it’s just fun being out here. They all impress me with their enthusiasm, intensity, their passion for wanting to win and wanting to play. I know we’ve been called underdogs this year and not ranked as high, but I’m telling you, it’s going to be surprising. We’re really working hard and we have great coaches. They’re all really impressive.

DH: You and Aaron are obviously both superior athletes, and I assume fairly competitive growing up. So, I'm going to run down a few sports or activities, and I want you to tell me who would win between you and your brother.

JM: Oh, geez, you're putting me on the spot. OK.

DH: How about a game of ping-pong?

JM: We haven't played in a while. I hate to brag, but I think I'd win. It’d be close. Ping-pong's a draw.

DH: Alright, Aaron told me you guys play a lot of Wii golf. Who wins that?

JM: Oh me for sure. I play with him sometimes so he can get his score higher.

DH: That's very generous of you. What about bowling -- the real kind, not the video game?

JM: I think we're pretty much even.

DH: What do you usually bowl?

JM: I usually hit 200-something sometimes, but I probably average 180- or 190-something.

DH: OK, who wins a game of trivial pursuit?

JM: Oh, lord, probably him. I’m not good at that stuff at all.

DH: How about a hot-dog eating contest?

JM: We both can eat, but he takes his time out. I think I could keep shoving it down. He’ll need a timeout but I’ll keep eating.

DH: I know you both play a little basketball, but who wins a game of H-O-R-S-E?

JM: I’m not going to lie, he doesn’t beat me at a lot of stuff. I’m the older brother so I don’t let him. But it’d be a good game.

DH: How about arm wrestling?

JM: Oh come on, it’s the old-man strength. I’d get him.

DH: You guys play a good bit of racquetball. Who's better?

JM: I let him win once in a while, but I take most of them.

DH: OK, a 40-yard dash?

JM: He may have me right now with my old legs. But I’m getting back healthy.

DH: Alright, last one, but this is the most important. Now, you're brother's not 21, so I won't ask about the local watering holes, but when you guys are doing something social, if, say, you both were chatting up a few of the ladies, who would leave with the most phone numbers?

JM: You know what? If this was back in the day when I was playing with the Brewers, I’d say me. But right now, it’s Aaron. He’s on top of everything right now.

Deleted Scenes: Football & Family for Murray Brothers

In today's Telegraph, I have a story on the close relationship between Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray and his brother, Josh, who is a walk-on safety this season.

It's a pretty long piece, but I didn't come anywhere close to using all the material I had. So, if you're still interested in reading more about Aaron and Josh, here are a bunch of quotes that didn't make the cut for the story...

Mark Richt on what he thinks about Josh and Aaron playing together...
"It's neat that they're both here together. Josh hasn't played football in a long time, but he hasn't lost his desire to hit somebody. I think it's wonderful to have them both on the same campus, and that never would have happened if they'd done it the normal way. But here's a guy that plays pro baseball and sits out long enough that now he's on the same college football team as his brother."

Richt on Josh's impact...
"He's a mature guy. You can see him, he has a heart for people and wants to help other guys out. He knows he's young in the system and learning everything, but he's mature, much more mature than most first-year guys. I think guys like him, know he cares about Georgia, cares about them, and he's doing a good job."

Joe Cox on the relationship between Josh and Aaron...
"It's really weird because I look at how old Josh is compared to Aaron. That's like me with my brother. My brother, I mean, I wouldn't say we were competitors because he was so much older than me, but he used to beat me at every single thing we did. So I'm sure his brother made him tough too. Being the type of older brother he is I'm sure he stayed on him, played against him and made him a better player."

Cox on what kind of impact Josh can have on Aaron...
"You can tell how close they are. Some people it might get them in trouble if they had a family member close by. You can tell that family is a real tight knit family and that Aaron looks up to his older brother. And Josh cares a lot about Aaron. I think it's a good thing for him to have his brother here."

Aaron Murray on what brought Josh to Georgia...
"It didn't start until I was up here or right before I left. In December we started talking about it a little bit. The longer I was up here, he came up to visit a couple times and liked it up here. He was still looking forward to going to college and was trying to figure out if he wanted to go to USF or Florida or Florida State or something like that. He really liked it up here and he thought it would be nice for him to come up here with me since I was so far away from home, and I guess the idea popped up that if he was going to come up here, he might as well walk on."

Aaron on whether Josh has intercepted him yet...
"Not yet. He deflected one pass in the summer in a seven-on-seven session. But other than that I haven't gone up against him too many times."

Aaron on his parents' reaction to Josh being at Georgia...
"They're extremely happy. They have an excuse to come visit us now, and you never know, my sister might come up here, too. So if all three of us are up here my parents might have to move up here. I think they enjoy having the opportunity to come and hang out with both of us at the same time."

Aaron on what it's like to have Josh around...
"It's like having a friend here. We're extremely close. We hang out all the time. I'll go to his apartment and we'll play Wii golf all day or go play racquetball or basketball. We always hang out."

Josh Murray on the decision to come to Georgia...
"For me, I'm very close to my family, and that was one of the reasons I stopped playing baseball was to be close to my family, to see my brother grow up, see my sister grow up. Another thing was that I always had such a passion for football, and finally the moment came when I thought, I still have a couple of years of eligibility left, I need to do something, I really want to play football. We talked about it a little bit, and I said to Aaron, I don't want to go up there and play if it's going to be a distraction to you. He said, ‘Oh, no, definitely come up here to play.' Orson wanted me to play, Aaron wanted me to play, and it kind of came down to a family decision. It's Aaron's show now. I had my time, now it's his turn to do his thing. But the decision was definitely one of the best I've made. It's awesome up here in Athens."

Josh on his baseball career...
"It was frustrating to say the least. I was drafted to play with the Brewers, and there were a lot of high expectations. Unfortunately, some injuries and just a loss of passion for some reason. Being away from family was tough, but I think I kind of got burned out with baseball. I'd been playing my whole life. Once I got to the Brewers, I did real well in spring training, but once the grind of the season came in, the passion left, and you've really got to love the game to play. I just didn't love it anymore, and I was forcing myself to play for four or five years just because of what they did for me. One year they even let me go home to try to get my act together, but the passion just wasn't there. It's really hard to devote your life to something that you really don't love. So I finally had to make the decision, and I talked with them, they gave me my release, and they said whenever you want to come back, you can come back. But the passion just wasn't there. It's always been for football."

Josh on why he prefers football...
"I'm a very intense person, and my mom never let me get into football when I was younger because she didn't want me to get hurt. But she learned her lessons from her first child, and then Aaron plays football and was very successful. It's just – baseball wasn't as intense for me anymore. It just didn't have that drive and passion. Football, when it came to it, I couldn't keep saying that my mom never let me get into football. I just need to go out there and take advantage of the opportunity. It's tough throwing myself out there, especially when I haven't played in like 10 years. But I knew if I didn't, I'd regret it the rest of my life. I still have a lot of ability and if I don't put it to use, I'm really disrespecting God."

Josh on the feedback he got from coaches...
"I talked to Coach Martinez quite a bit, and I think he was excited. He saw the passion that I had. It's just very nice coming up here and playing with a team. I'm out here all the time. It was tough playing with the Brewers because it was kind of an individual thing, but it's nice with a team. I wanted to be part of a team atmosphere again, and I'm going to dedicate all my efforts to this. It's exciting, and it's nice being out here."

Josh on his impact on Aaron...
"I hope it doesn't distract him so much, but I hope it's nice for him. It's nice for me having family up here because it's always tough when you're away from family for too long. I hope it's going well for him. I'm trying to stay away and let him do his own thing. But he'll come over and we'll play a little Wii sometimes and just hang out and bond as brothers. He's my best friend, too, so it's nice for me to have him up here as well."