Gators prepared to play with or without LB Kylan Johnson

On August 7 Jim McElwain offhandedly mentioned that linebacker Kylan Johnson was held out of practice because he was “a little sore” but that Johnson would be back.

A seemingly innocuous comment during the beginning of camp for Florida’s then starting SAM linebacker has turned into a nagging injury, one that has Florida preparing to play without him in the season opener against Michigan.

“Kylan is day-to-day,” linebackers coach Tim Skipper said on Wednesday. “Every day he is getting better and better. I like the way he is progressing. But to say it’s automatic, this or that, I can’t do that right now.”

Johnson has been able to go through some practice drills but he’s been largely held out of anything that involves contact.

“If you went to practice you wouldn’t know something is wrong with him, he’s full gear when we’re full gear,” Skipper said. “He goes through the individual (drills) and everything and going through the team periods and all that stuff. So he’s working.”

Johnson finished the 2016 season with 39 tackles, third highest among returning defensive players. The redshirt sophomore has missed both of Florida’s scrimmages this fall and Florida has to make plans to potentially play without him on Saturday.

“You kind of have two plans. You’re either subbing him in and out or your not. We have that already built in,” Skipper said. “We’ll get to game day and see which direction we need to go.”

The Gators linebacker depth could start to be a concern is Johnson isn’t available to play. Florida has two freshmen linebacker suspended for the game (Ventrell Miller & James Houston) and another freshman linebacker — Nick Smith — is out while recovering from knee surgery.

That leaves Florida with just five or six linebackers healthy and eligible to play against Michigan.

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