2008 Spring Practice: Day 1 Practice Report

ATHENS - With blue skies and spring-like conditions, the Georgia football team had its first of 14 scheduled spring practices on Monday afternoon.

The Bulldogs practiced for about two hours and the coaching staff got a chance to see the returning players in action as well as the four freshmen ­ Richard Samuel, Ben Jones, Dontavius Jackson and Tavarres King ­ who started school in January.

³We were fortunate to have such a beautiful day and overall, I think we had a lot of energy out there with guys running around and playing hard,² said head coach Mark Richt. ³Like a lot of first days, it¹s hard to say who did what. But (Matthew) Stafford and (Joe) Cox threw the ball extremely well today.²

In addition to saying that the motto for the spring was ³focus on the moment,² Richt said he was also pleased to see the development of redshirt freshman tailback Caleb King.

³I think he¹s quicker right now than he was last year and there is less indecision in his running.² Richt said. ³He changes direction well and his patience and vision has improved since last season.²

Georgia also welcomed new tight ends coach John Lilly to his first practice with the Bulldogs. Lilly joined Georgia¹s staff during the offseason after spending the 1998-2007 seasons at a similar position with Florida State.

The Bulldogs play their annual G-Day spring scrimmage at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, April 5, at 2 p.m.