G-Day chatter: Marlon Brown ‘will definitely be a major player for us this year’

ATHENS — Hello from Sanford Stadium, where the weather is beautiful (mostly sunny, 65 degrees)  for the alumni flag football game underway between the hedges and, oh yes, for the G-Day intra-squad game that starts at 2 p.m.

A couple of pregame notes (check back for more):

• A lot of eyes will be on wide receiver Marlon Brown today.  After playing less last season than many folks had expected, he impressed coaches and teammates early this spring, then had a setback when a shoulder injury kept him sidelined or limited for close to two weeks. He participated fully in practice Thursday and is expected to play today. Thin at receiver, the Dogs need a breakout season from Brown this fall.

“I tell you, Marlon is coming along,” offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said a couple of days ago. “He’s smoothing out. When I say ’smoothing out,’ I mean ability to run routes, get in and out of cuts. He just looks more fluid. A lot has to do with being more comfortable with the offense and getting more confidence in his ability to execute things. And that comes from practice.

“So we’re definitely pleased with Marlon. I like the way he doesn’t back down. He’s very physical. . . .  Continue to fine-tune his route running, and I think he’ll definitely be a major player for us this year.”

• If you’re wondering, quarterback Aaron Murray will be wearing a glove on his throwing hand for G-Day.

You know the story: Murray put on a glove when throwing on his own on a cold winter day . . . liked the way it felt . . . kept wearing it . . . and stuck with it throughout spring practice.

“I feel I’ve done well with it over the spring,” Murray said. “I feel like I had more control of the ball.”

His plan is to see if the glove works for him on hot summer days, then decide whether to wear it into the season.

Links to more on G-Day:

Showcasing new coaches, new defense, new quarterbacks.

How coaches divided up the Dogs: “Red” and “Black” team rosters.

UGA’s spring football award winners.