Practice report: All backs present, active as Bulldogs log spring practice No. 13

ATHENS — Good thing Georgia practices football on Tuesdays rather than Mondays. The weather was absolutely gorgeous on Tuesday — 75 degrees with a slight breeze as a few dozen Bulldog Network sponsors looked on during the first portion of a scheduled two-hour practice.

The Bulldogs were in full pads and full-contact mode for practice No. 13 of 15 this spring. Offensive and defensive linemen were going through hitting drills during the brief media observation period and offensive skill position players were being put through intense ball-security drills, with coaches yelling and screaming, managers and support personnel slapping at the football with all manner of instruments — including blocking dummies, boxing gloves and, yes, hands.

Practice No. 14 is Thursday and No. 15 will be Saturday — the annual G-Day instrasquad game at Sanford Stadium (4 p.m., ESPN, News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB).

Here’s a few tidbits from today’s viewing period:

• Natrez Patrick was practicing with the inside linebackers. Figured I’d mention after the debacle Saturday.
• D’Andre Swift was dressed out and practicing the ball-security drills and play polish with the rest of the running backs. He did not seem to be moving at quite the speed of the other backs, however. He has been dealing with a groin injury, according to coach Kirby Smart.
• The way the backs lined up in order during drills were: Elijah Holyfield, Brian Herrien, Swift, Prather Hudson and Zamir White.
• Speaking of White, he appeared to be working at a pretty quick pace, was in full pads and was going through all the drills with the rest of the backs. He is wearing one of the custom-made braces on his injured knee.
• Also getting a lot of work was Ian Donald-McIntyre. The redshirt sophomore from Fayetteville (Whitewater High) is 5-foot-10, 207 pounds, wears jersey No. 33 and physically looks like a very good athlete.
• One somewhat funny moment was when Daquan Hawkins-Muckle pancaked Julian Rochester during a 1-on-1 drill. They were working on some new turf and that probably caused Rochester to lose his footing. But it brought a laugh from a few, including Rochester and Hawkins-Muckle, who politely helped up the fellow nose guard.
• Cameron Nizalek has been assisting the punters, who clearly could use benefit from his help after his one tremendous season on the team as a graduate transfer.
• Post-practice interviews Tuesday will be with linebacker Monty Rice, defensive end David Marshall, offensive tackle Andrew Thomas and Holyfield.