Luke Del Rio returns to practice this week

Purdue graduate transfer Austin Appleby made his first start for the Florida Gators and is expected to make his second start this week at Vanderbilt. It may be his last chance to start a game this season.

On Monday Jim McElwain said Luke Del Rio, who missed last week with a knee injury, would be back at practice this week. Del Rio won’t be an active participant in practice on Monday, but will be eased back into action Tuesday as Florida prepares for a noon kickoff in Nashville.

“He’s a valuable piece of this,” McElwain said. “I would say he’s highly doubtful for this week, but I’m still not going to count him out.”

Del Rio made the trip to Knoxville and dressed out for the game, signaling plays into Appleby, who played well in his first start. Appleby completed 23-of-39 passes for 296 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

“I thought he played pretty darn good,” McElwain said. “Good enough for us to win a ball game.”

Del Rio has completed 62-of-101 (61.4%) passes for 762 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. Del Rio has been working out with a brace on his left knee.

“We see the big picture,” Appleby said. “If there’s division in the quarterback room there’s going to be division in the locker room and there isn’t.”

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