Tennesseee Week - Wednesday News and Notes

ATHENS - News and notes from Georgia's practices.

D.J. Shockley and Jason Allen talk twice a week, Shockley said, but the conversation this week has been guarded.

“I think he was trying to get a couple hints on what we’re thinking,” Shockley said. “You really have to watch what you say.”

The players met at a high school all-star camp and have stayed in touch since.

“He doesn’t want to get beat by me, and I don’t want to get beat by him,” Shockley said.

Allen made some Georgia fans made last year when he waved the Tennessee flag at the Bulldog crowd and planted it in the middle of the Sanford Stadium field after the game. Georgia’s coaches have tried to get motivational mileage out of the incident by putting a picture of it up in the locker room, but the Bulldogs don’t seem riled.

“I didn’t even know about it until they hung the picture,” offensive lineman Daniel Inman said. “That was last year? I thought it was two or three years ago.”

WHERE’D HE GO?: Just two weeks ago, Mark Richt referred to Sean Bailey as his team’s No. 1 receiver. Heading into the team’s most important game of the season, the statistics don’t show that at all. Bailey, who missed the Louisiana-Monroe game due to a shoulder injury, is seventh on the team with four catches for 78 yards.

“Sometimes, that’s just the way it goes,” Richt said. “He had the injury. He’s also dropped a few balls, not the easiest of catches I’ll say, but certainly balls that were catchable, kind of low line drives.”

Now Bailey is beginning to feel pressure for his starting job. Kenneth Harris has been moved to flanker to back up Bailey and make room for the quickly improving Mohamed Massaquoi at split end.

“I was predicting that (Bailey) was going to get more action, but it just hasn’t worked out that way,” Richt said.

PRACTICE REPORT: Defensive tackle Gerald Anderson (concussion) and defensive end Charles Johnson (ankle) will play, but Anderson won’t return to his starting role. Instead, Ray Gant will get the start, Anderson said.

“I don’t have any problem with that,” Anderson said. “He deserves it.”