ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia football coach Mark Richt deflected a now-daily question about the status of the tailbacks, chiefly Isaiah Crowell (Carver High) and Richard Samuel.

“I don’t want to talk about tailbacks,” Richt said. “I was in a good mood until you asked that. No more tailback questions until after the game.”

Georgia has faced problems at the position all year. Crowell has been practicing this week, while Samuel had yet to practice as of Tuesday after being out four weeks.

“I don’t blame you for asking, really, but I just don’t have any good answers,” Richt said.

Tyson doesn’t practice

Senior defensive end DeAngelo Tyson (ankle) was held out of practice for a second straight day. But Richt still is holding out hope that Tyson can play.

“He’s got a chance,” Richt said. “He’s still got a chance. Tomorrow we’ll see how much he’s progressed.”

No pro-combat unis

Back before the season opener, Richt made a promise to his Georgia players: If they got back to the Georgia Dome at the end of the year, they could wear the pro-combat uniforms for that game, too.

Even though the fans panned the Nike-designed uniforms that Georgia wore against Boise State, the players loved them.

“I thought that’d be a nice incentive,” Richt said. “As it turned out, it wasn’t much of an incentive.”

The Bulldogs have made it back to the Georgia Dome for the SEC championship. But the memory of the first game, a 35-21 loss to Boise State, is so stark that when Richt ruled out the pro-combat uniforms this week, he got no complaints.

“Nobody even asked me,” Richt said. “Matter of fact, a couple of them actually were like, ‘Don’t do it coach.’”

Players are opting for superstition over fashion -- or lack of fashion, depending on your outlook.

“He actually said, I think it was Monday or Tuesday, that we’re not going to,” offensive lineman Austin Long said. “I don’t think anyone really wanted to. I think the traditional, just keep doing what we’ve been doing the last 10 weeks.”

So Georgia will be wearing red jerseys and silver britches. LSU is the home team, but it wears white at home anyway.

Richt said “one guy” asked about possibly wearing black jerseys.

“They think you can snap your finger and get a bunch of brand new jerseys,” Richt said. “That has to be planned out.”