Muschamp Monday: Injuries, scrimmage notes & more

The Florida Gators held their first fall scrimmage on Sunday and the physical scrimmage left the team with a depleted group on Monday for practice. Will Muschamp updated the status of the team following practice Monday and other than Thomas Holley — who has a lingering hernia injury that will require surgery — the injuries seem to be minor in nature.

Injury Updates

 

  • Vernon Hargreaves is still not practicing as he works to come back from a bone bruise. Hargreaves will return to practice this week, either Tuesday or Wednesday. Hargreaves ran on an “ultra-g” treadmill, which is a non-gravity treadmill that takes pressure off of the knee while running.
  • Freshman defensive back Duke Dawson is dealing with a shoulder injury but should return to practice this week.
  • Kelvin Taylor tweaked his hamstring — Muschamp called it a strain. Taylor is shooting to be back on the field by the end of the week, Thursday or Friday.
  • Matt Jones had some knee swelling but will return to the practice field on Tuesday.
  • Adam Lane missed practice again. Muschamp did not specify his injury.
  • Andre Debose had some knee swelling but should be back to practice soon.
  • Trip Thurman has a shoulder issue; a timetable was not specified for his return.
  • Alex McCalister has a shoulder injury; a timetable was not specified for his return.
  • Taven Bryan has strep throat and is day-to-day.
  • Bryan Cox Jr. has a shoulder injury; a timetable was not specified for his return.
  • Thomas Holley will need minor surgery to clean up some scar tissue from a sports hernia, according to Muschamp.

Thomas, from the sports hernia he had in high school, he has some scar tissue built up. They are going to go in and shave that down. I don’t know when the timeframe is for that. I want to say the surgery is Tuesday.”

 

Scrimmage updates

 

  • Jeff Driskel is still ahead of the rest of the quarterbacks. Treon Harris and Will Grier were live in the scrimmage, Driskel was still in a no-contact jersey and should be the entire fall camp.

Pretty pleased with where we are. We still are a work in progress behind Jeff. We need to continue to have — those guys were live yesterday. They went against live rush so we‘ve got to do a better job getting rid of the football and taking care of the football. The ball security at that position was not good. Muschamp is pleased with the playmaking ability of the wide receivers but says they need to get better picking up assignments.

  • After the starting five offensive linemen, three others encourage Muschamp and he feels like the depth on the second unit is starting to come on.

Rod Johnson continues to do a good job for us. He’s a guy that’s provided us that seventh offensive lineman we can count on. David Sharpe, athletically is there but mentally needs to continue to come on. Right now, he would be that eighth guy we feel good about. Rod is our third tackle; Trenton would be our fourth tackle. David would be our fifth tackle.”

  • Joey Ivie has moved from defensive end to tackle. Muschamp likes the weight that Ivie is playing at (285-290) and how Ivie is able to take on blocks from inside.
  • Caleb Brantley and Jay-nard Bostwick had productive scrimmages and are giving Florida good depth behind Darious Cummings and Leon Orr.
  • Muschamp was not happy with the decision making of the defensive backs but chalked some of it up to their youth.

The secondary we made some poor decisions today on the ball. The guys knowing when to hook and swat and secure the receiver and knock the ball off and when you can go for the interception. The judgment on the back end has not been very good and that comes sometimes with young players. We’ve got some talented guys in positions to make plays but they’ve got to make better decisions on how to make the play.”

  • The poor snapping and holding continued in the scrimmage according to Muschamp, but the kicking competition is heating up.

Austin Hardin was 6 of 7. Brooks Abbott was 4 of 5. Frankie Velez was 3 of 3, I believe, in the scrimmage, and I thought kicked the ball well. We had a couple bad snaps that we’ve got to work on. Operation time is not where it needed to be, and I don’t think that was on them. Our approach, now, through nine practices, I think, has been very good. We’ve got to continue to build depth on both lines of scrimmage. That’s the biggest concern to me right now. Behind Jeff at quarterback, we need to make strides, which we haven’t.”

 

Team updates

  • C.J. Worton has impressed Muschamp so far. The freshmen receiver is earning more practice reps and impressing on the field. Muschamp did say that Worton needs to get in his playbook but he’s encouraged with the production he’s shown between the lines.
  • Keanu Neal is separating himself at safety. Muschamp singled out the sophomore as the “best safety” on the team and behind him, “we’ll see.”
  • Muschamp has been hard on freshman cornerback Jalen Tabor. Tabor has been working with the first team defense but Muschamp wants to see more refined technique and decision-making with Tabor.

Whether it’s your pad level, your eye control, and your leverage. All of those little things that are taken for granted when you’re that much better, which he was in high school – he didn’t have to worry about those things. Well now you’re in a situation where you’re going to be playing guys as good as you.”

  • Muschamp praised Michael Taylor for dropping some weight in the offseason. Taylor is the most experienced linebacker and someone that Muschamp trusts out on the field.

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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

1 COMMENT

  1. The news about Worton is very good. For him to already be second team is impressive. He also does what a receiver is supposed to do; catch the ball. Kudos to you for highlighting him as a freshman who might contribute this season. It sounds like he’s going to be hard to keep off the field. I don’t care if he’s not as fast as some other guys, being fast doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t catch the ball.