Georgia football coach Kirby Smart said last month at SEC Media Days that this preseason camp in Athens would contain the "greatest competition we've had since my arrival."
That competition apparently has started sooner rather than later.
After Tuesday afternoon's fifth practice of preseason camp, Smart said some of the players he expected to excel have not done so to this point. The Bulldogs had to start Tuesday's practice indoors due to lightning strikes in the area but were eventually able to get outside.
"The biggest concern I have is that the best players have to play the best, and that hasn't happened so far in camp," Smart said in a news conference. "We've got some guys who I consider to be really good players who aren't playing up to their potential, but we've also got a lot of players who were twos and threes last year who I think are playing pretty well.
"So we've got some good competition going on out there."
Smart did not identify any specific players who are struggling, though he did hint that complacency might be a cause. The Bulldogs won their first SEC title last season since 2005 and reached the national championship game before losing to Alabama in overtime.
"As I look out there, there are a couple of guys you would say, 'OK, this is a guy who played really well last year, and he's not playing to the level I think he can,' and that's one of the scariest things that can happen to our team," Smart said, "but the good news is that, at a lot of those positions, there is a guy just as talented behind him who is scratching and clawing, or maybe he just got here and is fighting for playing time.
"That excites me. Sometimes you get a casual nature about you if you think you know everything and you think you kind of understand everything, so we've had to have some talks about that with some guys."
The Bulldogs will take today off before resuming Thursday with a focus on Saturday's opening scrimmage, which will mark the debut for many of Georgia's top-ranked signees from earlier this year.
"A lot of them are swimming mentally, but that's to be expected," Smart said. "There are a lot of young guys who are competing hard."
LeCounte erratic
Sophomore safety Richard LeCounte was a five-star signee in 2017 who played in 10 games as a freshman, starting in the memorable 20-19 triumph at Notre Dame. The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder from Riceboro tallied 15 tackles last season, and apparently no two practices by him are the same.
"He makes some of the greatest plays I've ever seen, and then he makes some of the most bone-headed plays," Smart said. "There is not a level of consistency there. Richard loves to practice and he loves football as much as anybody out there, but he has to do things consistently in order to be successful."
Shining on stage
Freshman running back James Cook, the brother of Minnesota Vikings running back and former Florida State standout Dalvin Cook, had several stellar plays during Saturday's practice that was open to the public.
"I can't say that's been the case every practice," Smart said. "He's an exciting player. He's tough, and he's not afraid to compete with anybody at 185 pounds."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.