Georgia 'needs' both Javon Bullard, Tykee Smith rest of the season
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia defensive back Javon Bullard returned to the lineup last week against Auburn after missing the Bulldog’s previous contest at Missouri. Bullard started three of the first four games for UGA, but for the last two it’s been Tykee Smith in the STAR spot instead. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart says that both Bullard and Smith will be needed in order for the Bulldogs to be as successful as they want to be the rest of the season.
“Both those guys continue to get better. We’re going to need both of them throughout the year,” Smart said. “We had a role for both of them in the last game. I thought they both accepted that role well. Played really hard. Both had a couple, you know, mental mistakes that you can’t afford to make at that position that we didn’t get exposed on, but I like the way both those guys practiced and I love the energy they kind of bring. They kind of feed off each other, and I’m proud of those guys.”
Both Bullard and Smith are in their first seasons as major contributors on the Georgia defense. Last year Bullard saw action primarily on special teams while Smith suffered a season-ending ACL injury after his transfer in to Athens from West Virginia. Instead, it was Latavious Brini and William Poole that played the biggest roles for Georgia at STAR, and coming into the season Poole was expected to be a major contributor once again as a super-senior. Bullard beat him out for the starting spot during fall camp however, and Smith has come along well in his return to the field after last season’s injury resulting in the share of playing time that we’re seeing halfway through the regular season. On the year, Bullard has 10 tackles, including one for loss this past Saturday, and one pass breakup while Smith has nine tackles and one quarterback hurry.
There aren’t many that have a better view of the work that Bullard and Smith put in on a daily basis or one at how it pays off in the game than Georgia safety Christopher Smith. On Monday, he described Bullard and Smith as two of the toughest players he’s been around as well as incredibly hard workers.
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“Javon is one of the toughest football players I have ever seen in my life. Tykee as well. Very physical players, always attacking every day,” Smith said. “They put in a lot of work, as well as the rest of the defense. We continue to get better every week.”
“We all feed off of each other pretty well,” he added, talking about the way that Bullard and Smith – as well as other defensive backs feed off of each other. “We do a lot of rotating in the back end and it’s always good to have that competitive environment back there. We keep pushing each other as the year goes on.”
Bullard and Smith are back on the field of Sanford Stadium this Saturday for the homecoming game against Vanderbilt. Kickoff time between the Bulldogs and Commodores is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network with Georgia as a 38-point favorite.
