Georgia’s offensive injuries a benefit to Stafford

Athens — Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo doesn’t view the recent wave of injuries on offense as a problem.

In fact, he thinks it’s a good thing for quarterback Matthew Stafford.

“You don’t have all your weapons, but this is where you got to be at your best,” Bobo said after Saturday’s practice. “You’ve got to be extremely accurate. You got to hit your targets. You’ve got to make these guys better. The two scrimmages he’s done a really nice job of completing balls on first and second down.”

With wide receivers Mohamed Massaquoi, Tavarres King, A.J. Green and Michael Moore all in green non-contact jerseys, Bobo said Stafford has built a good rapport with wide receivers Israel Troupe, Kris Durham, Kenneth Harris and tight end Tripp Chandler.

“They’ve been out there every day,” Bobo said. “You can see trust growing between the quarterback and those receivers because they’re practicing. They’re on the same page on a lot of stuff.”

Wide receivers coach John Eason said he hopes to have some of his receivers back by next week so he can have two full weeks to prepare them before Georgia’s first game Aug. 30 against Georgia Southern.

Eason said he would like to have more preparation time, but he is trying to doing whatever little things he can now.

“What I’ve been trying to do, is just make sure we cover all the mental preparations,” he said. “We spend a lot more time film study. They might not be able to run, but they can walk through. So we work on those kinds of things.”

Backup TB still TBD

Running backs coach Tony Ball said Saturday he was surprised that backup tailback Caleb King wasn’t able to scrimmage Friday.

“I would have enjoyed watching him yesterday just to see what improvements he would have made from the first scrimmage,” he said. “The day before he tweaked a hamstring, so it was a surprise to us all that he wasn’t going to be able to go.”

Ball said King and freshman Richard Samuel are still tied for the backup spot behind Knowshon Moreno. Ball said that while Samuel is strong and fast, King boasts quick feet, great vision and body control.

“They both bring something to the table. They have a little different dimension as athletes, but they’re both still neck and neck, and that’s why it would have been good to see Caleb [Friday],” he said. “It’s still open.”

Mixing it up

Logan Gray can almost do anything as a punt returner — catch the ball, dodge tackles and run nearly the length of the field.

Now if only the backup quarterback could keep from tripping over himself.

“He’s got some moves,” Stafford said. “I think he’s gotten caught by the turf monster a couple times on the five [yard line]. Nobody around him. Other than that he’s been doing good.”

Gray has been working at punt returner and plans to take on several positions for special teams, though he wouldn’t elaborate which roles.

The 6-foot-2, 180-pound redshirt freshman said he isn’t worried about getting hurt, especially with quarterbacks Stafford and Joe Cox to run the show.

“Punt returner is going fine,” Gray said. “I think we have a lot of guys that have a shot at it, but we’re just going to see how it plays out.”

Gray, who was ranked the No. 10 quarterback in the nation by Rivals.com in 2007, said his experience at quarterback has prepared him somewhat for the transition.

“Playing quarterback, you kind of have to make a lot of decisions, and I think when you’re a punt returner, making good decisions is a big part of it. Hopefully I can do that and just be consistent,” he said.