​Kirby Smart was asked in his postgame news conference at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday if the injury toll across the SEC this season feels different, and his answer reached well past the injury report. The question followed the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs’ 27-8 win over the No. 17 Florida Gators, a rivalry game played in Atlanta for the first time because of renovations at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville.Apr 18, 2026; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart shown on the field during the Georgia Spring football game at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images“Yeah, it does seem different. I’ve asked several coaches about it, and we all have speculation. I don’t wanna give judgment on what it is. I mean, everybody’s practicing less, but everybody’s getting injured more. And it doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t add up. We’re not at the point of, you know, the ninth game yet. Nobody’s played any more than they normally would have right now.“So I don’t have a good answer for that. I do think that it was a big decision to make when they did the rosters to what they did the rosters to. We debated with a lot of higher-up people to come to the roster limitations we came to.“It’s gonna be interesting as this thing going down the stretch because I think people’s depth is gonna show up. You know, people have to make a choice how you wanna practice. Do you wanna practice at all, or do you just wanna try to save everybody? It’ll be interesting because I don’t know that the players are any different. I think about the teams we had in ’21 and ’22, how physical they were and how they practiced. I’m like, we can’t even get close to that now.“Is it, I don’t know, I mean, is it a different culture that guys don’t want to as much? I don’t know because they were definitely hungrier because there was a motivation to make it. You know, a lot of these guys, honestly, they make more than I made ’til I was 40. So it’s just a different day and age,” Smart said.Earlier in the same news conference, Smart singled out safety KJ Bolden. Bolden missed the 27-24 home loss to the Auburn Tigers on Oct. 17 with a lower leg injury and was listed as questionable for Florida. He played anyway and made an early open-field tackle on Gators running back Jadan Baugh.“Yeah, he’s a physical player. He’s a 195-, 190-pound guy that plays bigger than that. He’s tough. He grew up in Atlanta playing youth football against guys like Baugh. And I thought that was a great play for him to show his ability to knock-back tackle and get low. Really was proud of him. He didn’t have to play in the game. He wanted to play in the game. This day and age, you’ve got guys that they might think twice about playing. I think he is a warrior, he is a competitor. He’s everything you want on your team. I knew Thursday when he went out there and said, ‘Coach, I want to play.’ He’s hard to take out of the game,