Florida Gators have key injuries heading into North Texas

Before facing Kentucky the Florida Gators had good fortune with the injury big, getting receivers Tyrie Cleveland and C.J. Worton, as well as linebacker Daniel McMillian and cornerback Duke Dawson back from injury.

This week is the opposite as the injury report grew after Wednesday’s practice.

Jim McElwain announced that starting right guard Tyler Jordan (eye/orbital bone) would “out for a couple of weeks”

“Tyler Jordan had a deal with his eye that actually goes back to when he broke his orbital bone,” said McElwain. “That’s the eye socket in case you’re wondering. He’s got to get some work done on that so he’ll be out for a couple of weeks anyway.”

With Jordan out this week, redshirt freshman Richerd Desir-Jones will earn the first start of his career. Desir-Jones played last week against Kentucky, the first action he has seen at Florida.

“Richerd the thing that he does, he has great quickness, he gets on you quick,” said McElwain. “I’m excited to see him play. He graded out well in the last game. He got a lot snaps in there. This will be a great opportunity for him.”

Freshman receiver Tyrie Cleveland (hamstring) will also miss the game. Cleveland was suspended the first game and played sparingly in the SEC opener against Kentucky.

Sophomore receiver Antonio Callaway (quad) has been a participant in every practice this week but is still questionable this week.

“Callaway went bits and pieces. I would say he’s probably highly questionable to doubtful. Got three periods in and that was about it. Did a couple of things. We’ve got to see that. It loosened up really good this morning when he was in for treatment. We got a lot out of that. Didn’t think we got a lot out of it this afternoon.”

McElwain also announced that freshman linebacker Jeremiah Moon, who has played in both games, would need surgery on his thumb that will keep him out several weeks.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC