Jackets appear to be in good academic standing

Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall shakes hands with Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson after the Yellow Jackets beat the Cavaliers 31-17 Saturday, November 19, 2016. SPECIAL/Daniel Varnado

Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall shakes hands with Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson after the Yellow Jackets beat the Cavaliers 31-17 Saturday, November 19, 2016. SPECIAL/Daniel Varnado

Georgia Tech returned to bowl practice Monday, training in full pads in preparation for Kentucky in the TaxSlayer Bowl Dec. 31.

“I thought they came back and the energy level was good and we got a lot done,” Johnson said. “We were able to play a little bit live for five or 10 minutes, which we hadn’t done in a while, especially offensively, so that was a good thing.”

Tech will practice Tuesday and Wednesday before releasing the team for its holiday break. The team will reconvene on the 26th and practice on-campus on the morning of the 27th before flying to Jacksonville, Fla., the same day.

The Jackets will evidently not have any academic casualties after final exams. Johnson said that “as far as I know,” players made it through finals in good standing.

“They don’t tell me how they did on their finals unless it’s not good,” Johnson said. “So I’m assuming no news is good news. I’ll get a report, but it’ll be, like, in January.”

Last week, Johnson was hopeful but not certain that his players would make it through exams in good shape.

“It’s a tough place, so you just don’t know” until final exams are over, he said.

B-back Dedrick Mills reported making mostly B’s after a tough semester.

“I made my family happy because, at first, I was kind of struggling when the season first started,” he said. “At the end of the semester, I had almost all B’s. That’s a goal for me and pretty good and my family’s pretty happy now.”