Georgia football might have been off over the weekend, but every Sunday is an advertisement for the Bulldogs' NFL training ground.

Ladd McConkey grabbed a pair of touchdowns for the Chargers on his way to 111 receiving yards on six catches.

Fellow rookie Brock Bowers is making such an impact for the Raiders — a team-leading 58 receiving yards on five catches this time — that Chiefs' star Travis Kelce told the tight end after the game that he’d send over a jersey and wanted one from Bowers.

Carson Beck has been a name to know for the 2025 NFL draft as a candidate to be the first quarterback taken or even the No. 1 overall pick.

The Bulldogs' senior is returning home to Jacksonville for Saturday’s game against Florida looking to take his season to another level.

Beck and the Bulldogs, ranked No. 2 in the nation, still have legit national championship goals on the table, but he’s not playing much like a first-rounder during a four-game stretch when he’s thrown as many interceptions as touchdowns with eight each.

“I’ve got to go back and watch the film, but I’ve got to get better,” Beck said Oct. 19 after Georgia’s 30-15 win over then No. 1 Texas, a game in which he went 23-of-41 for 175 yards with 3 interceptions. “I’ve got to be better for this team and it’s a great day that our defense showed up when they did considering, shoot, they way that I played. You’ve got to go back and watch the film and overall as an offense, I think we can be so much better.”

Beck’s numbers reflect an offense that was already in transition with Bowers and McConkey gone to the NFL and the college career ending for Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint. Georgia then lost Rara Thomas to a preseason dismissal and Colbie Young to an indefinite suspension after arrests.

Beck never threw more than one interception in a game last season, but he threw three against Alabama and Texas and two against Mississippi State.

Only LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier (9) has thrown more interceptions among SEC quarterbacks. Nussmeier has 83 more attempts.

“He hasn’t played perfect, but nobody does,” coach Kirby Smart said Monday. “I’m very comfortable with where Carson is in terms of his leadership, his practice habits, the things we’re asking him to do. I think he’s doing a good job of those.”

Beck has the most interceptions for a Georgia quarterback since Jacob Eason’s eight in 2016.

He threw an interception at a 1.43 percent rate last season, 5^th best in program history. This season that rate is 3.2 percent.

“Everybody will look at stats and everybody will look at other things, and they'll have things to say and we'll keep on playing with Carson Beck,” Smart said after the win over Texas. “I don't think he's doing anything different. We don't have some of the same guys, you know what I mean? He's carrying a lot of that burden with him."

Beck’s 15 touchdown passes are second-most in the SEC behind Nussmeier’s 20 and his 66 percent completion percentage is fourth in the league.

Florida coach Billy Napier was asked Monday about Beck being “up and down,” this season.

“We don’t buy into that narrative,” he said. “He’s an elite quarterback. He’s been fantastic throughout his career. Just seen a lot of football. ... And he’s just a big, tall athletic guy that can throw it all over the park.”

Beck threw for 315 yards on 19-of-28 passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions in a 43-20 win over Florida last year.

He did it with Bowers sidelined after TightRope ankle surgery.

“That game last year was probably my favorite game that I played in,” Beck said this summer. “It was very surreal.”

That’s because Beck played on the same field as an 11-year old, losing in the city championship in the Junior Pee Wee division.

“We got absolutely smoked in that game,” he said. “Running out of the tunnel and just looking around, it was a very emotional moment for me and it was very full-circle to have grown up in Jacksonville and then finally to got the opportunity to play in such a big rivalry game. Having the opportunity to come back and do that again, I’m super excited.”

It would help if Beck and his receivers can get in a better rhythm. There have been communication issues and Georgia has 16 drops, according to Pro Football Focus.

“I’d probably say he doesn’t need to do much better,” wide receiver Arian Smith said. “We’ve just got to play better as an offense. All 11 of us on the same page for that play to work.”

Told Monday that Beck said he needs to play better, Smart said: “He does need to play better. We need to coach better. We need to execute better. We need the people around him to play better. That’s the ownership that a quarterback takes. I wouldn’t expect him to answer any questions like that any other way.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Carson Beck seeks better showings as he returns home to face Florida