Florida Gators use bye week to get healthy

The Florida Gators were in bad shape after their 40-14 homecoming win over Missouri. Three starters (Jalen Tabor, Jarrad Davis and Tyler Jordan) all left the game with injuries, adding to an already increasing large list of players dealing with injuries.

The bye week couldn’t come at a better time.

“We took advantage of it. We got healthy,” starting quarterback Luke Del Rio, who has missed time this year due to injury, said on Monday. “Definitely very excited to get back on the field and play a great team in Georgia.”

The biggest issue for the Gators facing two teams that will look to pound the ball on the ground in the next two weeks is getting back veterans along the defensive line and at linebacker. Senior defensive tackle Joey Ivie injured his thumb against Tennessee and hasn’t played since. Ivie underwent surgery following the injury and was given a timetable of 4-6 weeks, with the hope that he would be able to return to the team this week. That looks to be the case after Ivie met with doctors last week and returned to practice on Sunday.

Bryan Cox, who injured his hand while warming up before the Missouri game and was in a hard cast after the game, also returned to practice Sunday. Jordan Sherit (knee) was also back at practice last week without pads and he continues to come back from a knee injury that has sidelined him for two weeks.

“Some guys that kind of ran around a little bit in the stretch and stride yesterday: Cox and Sherit and Ivie, all three of them ran around a little bit. We’ll see more as practice goes on obviously. Today is in spiders (helmets shoulder pads), so I won’t have any earth-shattering news there,” McElwain said of the three. “We should know more obviously Wednesday. Same with Jarrad Davis. Right now, that’s one we’ll push through the week. And know this, we won’t ever jeopardize anything there. It would have to be right, in all of these guys’ cases.”

Sophomore right guard Tyler Jordan was seen in a walking boot after the Missouri game and last week on campus is good to go following the injury and expected to play this week.

The bye week helped many of the players but DeAndre Goolsby, who appeared to dislocate a finger during the homecoming win before going back into the game, doesn’t have as good of an outlook as the rest of his teammates.

“Goolsby came out yesterday (Sunday), did some things,” said McElwain. “It will be interesting to see how he’s able to handle that throughout the week. I would say that will be questionable as well.”

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