Every day is an adventure for Malcolm Mitchell.
Georgia’s sophomore cornerback/wide receiver said he doesn’t know where he will practice each day until he arrives and sees which color jersey is hanging in his locker. And yes, he admitted, it does get tiresome.
“It can be difficult sometimes because you never know, but it’s what I signed up for, so I’ve got to deal with it,” Mitchell said following Monday’s practice, which he noted was spent exclusively on offense.
Mitchell said he never has an issue separating the offensive and defensive play-calls in his head, given his constant, back-and-forth shuffling. He has played enough with both units already. But he has had his share of difficulty in another area: punt returns.
He has had problems fielding punts all season and the issue came to a head in Saturday's victory against Tennessee, when he decided to let the punt roll, forcing the Bulldogs' offense to begin a drive at the 1-yard line. Mitchell was relieved of punt return duties later in the game by Rhett McGowan and following the game, Georgia coach Mark Richt reiterated, "Rhett's the guy."
For his part, Mitchell said he had no qualms about being replaced.
“That’s fine. The best person for the job gets it,” he said. “I’ve had some mistakes this year and if they call for [McGowan] to go in, I’ll support him all the way. While he’s back there, you’ll see me on the sideline cheering him on. Hopefully he’ll run it back, because we need one.”
Whether he’ll still be in the punt return rotation hasn’t been discussed yet, Mitchell said. But he’s more aware of his gaffes than anyone and knows he is now paying for them.
“I’m far from dumb or ignorant,” he said. “I know something has to be done. Too many mistakes have been made, so I’m not one to be blind to things that happen around me. You’ve just got to take it and deal with it, whatever happens.”
Tight ends ‘unseen’ but pleased with play
Georgia’s torrid offensive pace this season has seen the tight ends play in relative anonymity. And they’re fine with that.
Both Arthur Lynch and Jay Rome know fans focus more on receptions than the yards they help clear for the running backs with their blocking. The specter of the departed Orson Charles, who caught 71 passes for 996 yards and seven touchdowns the past two seasons, may put unenviable expectations on his successors.
While Lynch may not match Charles’ numbers in the receiving department, he has been satisfied with his play nonetheless.
“You can call it however you see it, but I don’t think it has necessarily been a slow start,” he said. “We’ve been blocking well and I know if you read the message boards, you read all the stuff and see people saying things, it’s disheartening. At the same time we know what we can do, we know how much work we’ve put in and we obviously know when the opportunity presents itself, we’ve got to make plays.”
Rome said he enjoys making a key block on a touchdown run every bit as much as he enjoys scoring himself, even if blocking isn’t normally highlight-reel material.
"I have text messages when I come back to my phone like, 'I saw that block on Todd's [Gurley] touchdown run,'" he said. "That always makes you feel good. I know it's the dirty part of the game and it goes unseen by some people, but there are people that recognize what we're doing."
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