He comes here not to bury Eason, but to praise him.

All is not gloom and doom for the returning sophomore quarterback, it seems.

On Tuesday, Kirby Smart said the offense is “advancing along” in the passing game, trying some different formations, which the Bulldog head coach said is due to Eason and the work he’s put in.

“Oh yeah, he’s got a long way to go but he’s come a long way. He understands the protections now. Last year, there were times he did, times he didn’t. But he had a lot on his plate,” Smart said. “To manage that offense is challenging coming straight in from high school … I think he’s in a better place. He’s more confident, he’s throwing the ball well and the wideouts are catching it.”

The game, Smart indicated, is starting to slow down for the Washington native.

That is nice to hear.  So is this:

But so far, Smart likes what he’s seen and as a result the offense so far in practice has been more efficient and varied.

“There are things that Jacob can handle now so we’re able to do a few more things, being able to open things up to run the ball as well as throw the ball, we’ve been able to give him some options to check into and out of things,” Smart said. “If a guy can get you into a certain play that helps and he’s certainly more comfortable than he was at the end of the year last year.”

Smart said Eason is starting to make his receivers’ job easier as well.

“There’s still some things at wide out we’ve got improve to get where we want to go,” Smart said. “But Jacob is helping those guys out by putting the ball in some tight spots.”

Honestly, this is what’s supposed to happen after you get a year under your belt.  Maybe we should breathe a little easier… at least until we see G-Day QBR stats, anyway.