Georgia head coach Mark Richt, sitting in the customary chair at his weekly press conference Tuesday, answered an unfamiliar question regarding the state of his program.

After losing two consecutive Southeastern Conference games and the Bulldogs out of the polls with a 3-3 record, Georgia athletic director Damon Evans said in an e-mail to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he had “concerns” about the team.

Richt said those “concerns” were about the season, not the program, and that he shares the sentiment with Evans.

“I have concerns about the season, of course, with the way we’ve played,” he said, with the tense sort of look you’d expect from a coach who has never lost more than four games in a season.

Richt pointed out the No. 2 final ranking in 2007 and his team’s finishing in the top 10 for six of the past seven years.

However, previous success wasn’t making the chair Richt perched in any more comfortable.

“That’s the past, I understand that,” Richt said. “But when you start talking about a program, I think you have to start looking at where we’ve been in the recent history here.”

To think Richt would field a question regarding the state of Georgia football seems alien, considering his two SEC championships, last season’s No. 1 preseason ranking and a current roster packed with premium talent

But the negativity is here and now.

“The other thing is the season is not over – it’s just not over,” Richt said. “When some of your main goals not necessarily fall by the wayside, but become less attainable, it’s tough on everybody. We are very concerned about how this season has gone, and we are battling as hard as you can possibly battle to get things moving in the right direction this year.”

Pair of Kings to return

The offensive unit’s hand got stronger with word that a pair of King’s are back in the fold.

Running back Caleb King and receiver Tavarres King were back at practice Tuesday, on schedule to play after having both missed the trip to Tennessee.

Caleb, who suffered a fractured jaw and concussion versus LSU, did not participate full contact, but is close to 100 percent.

“If everything goes well, which we expect it to, he would be able to go [Wednesday] and get any contact that we get . Thursday, even though we don’t put the shoulder pads on, we can still simulate some contact and actually get some contact with him to see how he responds to it.”

Tevarres also sat out of Saturday’s contest at Tennessee with a concussion suffered during the game against LSU. It isn’t known if either will start.

Evans says 2011 game at Ga. Dome against Jackets not likely

Evans said Tuesday night that he does not believe that Georgia will play in the Georgia Dome against rival Georgia Tech to open the season.

“After careful consideration, we did not think in the final analysis it was in the best interest of our football program to play the game as a season opener in 2011. I think the most significant factor was that we did not want to give up the home game that year and make a change in the current home game rotation with Georgia Tech,” Evans said.

- Tyler Estep contributed to this article