Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

Cox relishes his second chance

ATHENS — Joe Cox swears he hasn’t owned a working computer in 18 months. At times it might have been an inconvenience, but lately, he has been happy not to have it.

With Georgia’s 4-4 start to the season and Cox’s 12 interceptions to go along with the record, Cox hasn’t had much interest in surfing the Internet to see what fans are saying about his performance.

“Anybody can get on that and talk about sports,” Cox said. “That’s like me going on WebMD and talking like I’m a doctor and telling these guys what they should be doing in hospitals. That’s the least of my worries.”

It’s not that Cox doesn’t understand the concerns of fans. He freely admits that he hasn’t played well, and he said he would have understood if head coach Mark Richt had decided to bench him after last week’s three-interception performance against Florida.

But being at the center of a sea of criticism is no easy task, and the only real option, he said, is to avoid it.

“When you have a bad game and you go out to eat the following week, you feel like there might be people at the restaurant talking bad about you,” he said. “It’s tough. You never know how crazy it is until you’re really in that position.”

Rather than let his quarterback twist in the wind this week, Richt announced Monday that Cox would remain the starter, citing a unanimous vote among the coaches.

It hasn’t been the senior year Cox had dreamed of, and the costs of being the starting quarterback at Georgia have been greater than even he expected, but he still wouldn’t trade the job for anything.

“I definitely don’t want to have the plug pulled on me and not play any more for the rest of the year,” he said. “I have another chance, and I want to make the best of it.”

LEARNING ON THE FLY

Freshman Washaun Ealey got the starting nod at tailback for two straight weeks but a missed block against Florida will likely cost him that role this week. While Ealey continues to run the ball well, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said pass protection remains a concern that’s too big to ignore.

“It’s always a big concern with young backs,” Bobo said. “I do know he knows what to do, he just did not execute the proper techniques of how to block. It was costly in (the last) game ... but I think he’ll improve. He’s just got to trust his technique and execute it properly.”

Bobo said Ealey has gotten plenty of advice this week from the Bulldogs’ expected starter, Caleb King.

GRAY TO PLAY

Despite Richt’s endorsement of Cox as his starting quarterback, backup Logan Gray will get a chance to state his case at the position this week, too.

Richt said Gray has earned a chance to showcase his skills outside of late-game situations in blowouts, which is when all seven of his passing attempts have come so far this season.

Bobo said Gray will get at least one series this week in the first half, but the specifics have yet to be decided. The change of pace at quarterback will also give Bobo a chance to open up the playbook a bit, too.

“We’ll do things that we think he can be successful with, whatever we feel that may be,” Bobo said. “It’ll be stuff he can operate, and some of it’s within our system and some of it we haven’t done. Some of it will be a little bit of a change up and some of it will be the basis of our offense.”

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM

Defensive end Justin Houston is doubtful for Saturday’s game after suffering a hyperextended elbow last week, and Richt said there will likely be a rotation of players filling the void.

Cornelius Washington, Montez Robinson and Kiante Tripp are likely to each see a bump in playing time against Tennessee Tech if Houston misses the game, Richt said. Tripp has been inactive for the past six games after seeing some early action, mostly because a shoulder injury that has hindered his progress since moving from the offensive line in January.

“He was working his way into some playing time early on, and then the injuries set him back for a long time,” Richt said. “Being injured that long, it’s just hard to snap your fingers and be right back where you were. ... But I’ve seen a lot of effort an energy out of him this week, that’s for sure.”