ATHENS — While it still seems unlikely he starts, it appears increasingly likely that Jacob Eason will be on the trip with Georgia to Tennessee.

Eason has done more in practice this week, and was working second behind Jake Fromm during passing drills on Tuesday. Speaking on the SEC teleconference a day later, Kirby Smart was asked if there was a chance that Eason would play on Saturday.

“We certainly hope to have him ready to go,” Smart said. 

That was as much as Smart said Wednesday about Eason’s status, and falls in line with how he’s talked about the situation, careful about not saying too much publicly.

Eason has missed the previous three games after spraining a knee ligament in the first quarter of the season opener. A timetable for his return was never set. Eason did suit up for Saturday’s game at Mississippi State, but was not cleared to play.

This week Georgia is operating with a 70-man travel roster when it goes to Tennessee.

“He’s improving,” Smart said when asked about Eason. “He’s gotten better with each day. He did a nice job yesterday, being able to move around some in the pocket. We did some drills with him, and had some rushes for him to move around.

“So he’s improving day to day and mentally catching up to the speed of the game. It’s different when you go three, four weeks without taking a snap. So he’s started catching up on that.”