ATHENS —

Kirby Smart spent eight years as Alabama’s defensive coordinator, so he knows a thing or two about that side of the football.

What he sees right now from his top two units isn’t anything that’s inspiring him at the moment.

Then again, perhaps the offense is playing better than what he anticipated. But his instincts are leaning toward the notion that the defense isn’t getting the job done, although the results aren’t 100 percent clear at the moment.

"We either have a long way to go on defense or we’re better than I think on offense," Smart said. "And I don’t know how to answer that because the offense, I won’t say dominated, but they definitely won the scrimmage. Was a little disappointing because the last practice we had, which would have been Thursday, we kind of challenged the defense because the offense had dominated them Thursday."

Smart noted that not one defender stood out in practice that he could take something positive from. Even when a player came away with a turnover, he’d make a mistake soon after.

It seemed to be that kind of day for the defense, although the windy and cool conditions seemingly would have made it tough for the offense to perform, as well.

"Just a poor performance altogether, just to be honest with you," Smart said. "There were a couple of turnovers and there was a pick, so you would say, 'Well, that’s good.' But the same guy who gets the pick gives us a big play. It comes down to execution."

Smart has been adamant about getting better leadership from his players since the start of spring practice. Players on offense such as Sony Michel have stepped up on offense while Smart has yet to see any defenders take that next leadership step. Smart did previously say that safeties Dominick Sanders and Quincy Mauger have been vocal leaders on defense, although that tune changed slightly when it came to the entire defense.

“It’s like everybody is waiting on somebody else,” Smart said. “It’s just not there. We’ve got to do a better job to develop it until we get it rolling. And we don’t have that now. I told Lorenzo (Carter), ‘You’ve got to be a leader.’ ‘(Sanders), you’ve got to be a leader;’ Davin Bellamy, Natrez (Patrick), somebody’s got to be a leader. We don’t have the leadership out there that we need. Everybody’s looking at everybody else. You’ve got to do it as a coach, so as coaches we’re trying to challenge them and push them. Even Trenton (Thompson), he’s got to play better. We’re just not playing good defensively.”

Georgia lost a lot in the front seven on defense, which could be contributing to the problem this spring. Starting outside linebackers Jordan Jenkins and Leonard Floyd are projected to be early round NFL draft picks. Defensive linemen Sterling Bailey, Chris Mayes, Josh Dawson and James DeLoach graduated from the program, as well.

Inside linebacker Jake Ganus is another leader Georgia is forced to replace, which has made the defensive transition a work in progress.

Not having defensive linemen Michael Barnett and DaQuan Hawkins available due to MCL injuries isn’t helping either.

“When it’s a battle of spring practice, you are battling one side doing well then the other side not doing well, and then it’s usually a see saw,” Smart said. “It goes up and back, up and back. That didn’t happen (Saturday). A lot of situations out there, and the offense out-performed the defense, which is disappointing. I’m starting to worry we’re getting a little thin inside, some guys are getting worn down, but we also lost I don’t know how many seniors on defense, but four or five of those guys who’ll be in the draft are pretty good players.”