The Joe Cox era behind center officially began with the start of Georgia’s spring practice Tuesday.

But because Cox knows the system and is confident going into his fifth year in Athens, more talk surrounded the performance of freshmen quarterbacks Zach Mettenberger and Aaron Murray in their first official day as Bulldogs.

“You had your typical true freshmen, being a little nervous, having a little trouble hitting their targets, not being real good with their footwork, still learning to call the play in the huddle, still learning the cadence,” said head coach Mark Richt.

Cox completed his first official practice as the No. 1 quarterback on Georgia’s depth chart in what linebacker Rennie Curran called the spring starter “better than any one I can remember.”

The one concern Cox had coming into the season was getting more reps than he was used to as a second-teamer. But that, the fiery veteran said, wasn’t a problem either.

“It was a little bit different,” he said. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It turned out I got as many reps today as I would have last year, it was just with a different group of guys.”

Meanwhile, Murray and Mettenberger, not available for interviews Tuesday with the other freshmen, were going through typical growing pains.

“Their heads were spinning a little bit today because this was the first time they were in the huddle and having to call plays and make reads at a game pace,” Cox said.

“I got a lot of questions today. But I like that, I like helping them out.”

“[Quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo] is extremely excited with them in the meeting rooms and how quickly they’re picking things up on the board,” Richt said. “But to take it from the board to practice, especially the first one when everybody’s watching, is not easy for those guys. So it was about what you would expect from them.”

Murray, Mettenberger and redshirt sophomore Logan Gray will presumably all be battling for the No. 2 quarterback spot throughout the spring and summer.

Gray has been in the system longer, but also sees reps and meeting time with special teams.

“You can tell [Murray and Mettenberger] are just trying to learn right now, that’s their main focus,” senior receiver Kris Durham said.

“But they definitely impressed me. They’re definitely a lot better than I could have imagined coming out the first day.”

Defensive end even thinner Tuesday: With a rash of injuries, the Bulldogs entered spring practice with just four defensive ends ready to go. Redshirt freshman Jeremy Longo was sick Tuesday and didn’t practice, leaving just a trio of D-ends.

One of those was Kiante Tripp, a convert from the offensive line.

“[Tripp] hustled his tail off today,” Richt said.

A.J. goes full tilt: Sophomore wide receiver A.J. Green, who led the SEC in receiving last season, went full speed in practice Tuesday, saying his injured groin felt fine.

“We’ll see how I feel tomorrow and see if I can go like I did today,” he said.

Searels in midseason form: Spring practice just started, but offensive line coach Stacey Searels was already in mid-season form Tuesday, shouting and barking unabashedly at his linemen.

For most of the O-linemen, it was old hat, but one in particular might not have been so used to it.

“[Early enrollee Dallas Lee] is having a good time,” Richt said, smiling.