It was a good practice but a somber mood for Florida Head Coach Urban Meyer after practice on Wednesday. Upon approaching the media gathered in attendance, the first questions were about his starting left tackle Phil Trautwein after reports surfaced earlier in the day that Trautwein may miss some playing time this season due to injury.
One of his leaders on offense, Trautwein has endured the injury he is suffering from now earlier in his playing career. Meyer said mentally he is a tough cookie.
“Traut will be fine…You hate to see something like this especially with a really invested guy,” Meyer said. “It is his third stress fracture and I found out more last night when we all found out. I thought it was a sprained ankle and almost fell out of my chair, but he also had a couple in high school.
“(He will miss the first game) is kind of the word from Dr. Pete, we will know more in the next couple of days, but thats what they are telling me. He is in a cast.”
The loss of Trautwein means the Gators will have to rely on some of the depth on the offensive line that has been talked about this preseason. It also means a veteran group up front will be joined by a true freshman.
“Medder is at right tackle,” Meyer said. “Watkins is at left tackle. We’ll start with Maurkice at guard as a true freshman, boy am I excited to see him play. Center is Drew Miller and left guard is Jim Tartt.”
Meyer is upset at losing such a veteran player but said it is a position where the Gators luckily have some quality people to step in.
“It’s a huge loss— he is a captain,” he said. “The good thing is it is a place where we have some competition.”
There is no timetable yet for Trautwein’s return according to Meyer. “I have heard a couple of things,” he said. “I will let you know when I here something solid.”
The rest of the team continued on with solid practices but there are a couple of players that are still not going to see time this week.
“We had a great day today and are getting game ready,” Meyer said. “(Markihe) Anderson is out. Bo Williams is out— he is out for like six weeks with a dislocated ankle.”
The mystery about freshman defensive tackle John Brown being cleared by the Clearinghouse to play football still lingers. Yet Meyer remains optimistic.
“That has not been cleared yet, he said. “But we are anticipating the best still.”