Georgia inside linebacker Reggie Carter is happy to be healthy again, but don't take his word for it.
Take it from someone Carter has to face each day.
"He has been taking some shots at me in practice," Bulldogs junior tailback Sony Michel said in a news conference Thursday. "We've been physical and competing against each other, and it has been great. I think he's happy to be back on the field.
"You can kind of see it. He's a very competitive guy."
Carter collected 28 tackles as a sophomore in 2014, when he helped back up the senior inside tandem of Amarlo Herrera and Ramik Wilson. The 6-foot-1, 228-pounder from the Atlanta suburb of Snellville was expected to be a starter going into last season, but he never could overcome a shoulder injury.
After collecting two tackles in the second game at Vanderbilt, which would be his only performance of the season, Carter underwent surgery.
"It was tough, but you have to move on," Carter said. "I'm trying not to look back. I'm trying to move forward. It's going good, and I'm just trying to get back into a rhythm."
The Bulldogs conducted their fifth of 15 spring workouts Thursday and their third in full pads. Carter spent the first three practices in a noncontact jersey but shed that earlier this week, much to the delight of first-year coach Kirby Smart.
"I've been pleased with Reggie," Smart said in Tuesday's news conference. "He doesn't seem to have any instability in the shoulder. He's not holding back."
Baker making impact
Kendall Baker's contribution last season as a reserve offensive lineman consisted of mop-up duty against South Carolina, Southern University and Kentucky, games the Bulldogs won by a combined 98 points.
Baker now has a noticeably more prominent role. The 6-6, 310-pound redshirt sophomore from Atlanta has been working as the starting left tackle.
"Kendall has been a pleasant surprise to me," Smart said, "because I really didn't know what to expect. We challenge Kendall every day to play with more toughness like we challenge all of our players, but he's doing a great job."
Baker played at Marist School and was listed as a four-star prospect by Rivals.com and Scout.com.
Still in pursuit
The top receiver in the 2016 recruiting class according to 247Sports.com, Demetris Robertson of Savannah, has yet to announce his intentions nearly two months after national signing day.
Smart said the Bulldogs definitely need Robertson's speed on the perimeter and smiled when asked what his sales pitch was when the five-star recruit and his family made a recent visit to Athens.
"I feel like we've been pitching it for a long time," Smart said. "We just keep pitching and pitching."
Robertson has signed financial aid papers with Georgia, Georgia Tech and California, and he also is considering Alabama, Notre Dame and Stanford.
Odds and ends
Georgia's G-Day spring game on April 16, which has a 4 p.m. start, will be televised by ESPNU. Former Bulldogs quarterback Matthew Stafford, former Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer and current Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians will be among the speakers today at Georgia's annual coaching clinic. Michigan announced Thursday that Jim Harbaugh will hold a satellite camp at Cedar Grove High School in the Atlanta suburb of Ellenwood on June 2.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.