ATHENS — Kirby Smart said last spring that the Georgia football offense wouldn’t be limited by JT Daniels, as much as it would by the talent and execution around him.

Smart’s words are proving true as the Bulldogs’ offense had its struggles behind an unsettled line and depleted receiving corps in the first fall scrimmage on Saturday.

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“He is not playing with a full deck, he does not have all of the weapons out there,” Smart said, later noting that projected starters Jermaine Burton, Kearis Jackson and John FitzPatrick did not take part in the scrimmage.

“We did not have all of the arsenal there. JT understands that. He understands that we are going through the process of making good decisions.”

Georgia was also working two new centers with the first team with Warren Ericson sidelined by an injury to his snapping hand which required a cast.

From all accounts (donors were allowed to watch) the offense sputtered and many players appeared sluggish after an exhausting summer workload.

It was Earth’s hottest July on record, and the Bulldogs’ player trained amid temperatures that routinely featured heat indexes over 100.

Conditioning will not be a problem for Georgia, and Smart made clear that neither will Daniels’ play nor leadership, despite the modest results on Saturday.

“I am really pleased with where JT is with his leadership and commanding the offense,” Smart said. “I think he would admit that he could have had a better day than he did today, and he knows that. That is not all on him.

“That is on everybody including me, the offensive staff and all of the guys to keep improving. That is why we do this. We do this to find out where we are, and then we will move from there.”

WATCH: Kirby Smart breaks down Scrimmage One, statement on Arik Gilbert

Georgia football opens the season at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 4 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., against Clemson.