One concern many fans have had going into the 2022 football season is if Sophomore Quarterback Anthony Richardson will be able to stay healthy for an entire season. Just this past week, the Florida Gators took a big hit at the quarterback position after redshirt Freshman Quarterback Jack Miller suffered a thumb injury that required surgery.
Fortunately for the Gators, the timetable on Miller’s return doesn’t seem to be too detrimental. “So, Jack had a thumb fracture,” said Napier. “Which is really the same surgery that Drew Brees had just a couple years ago. We anticipate him missing the first two games and are hopeful that we get him back for week three. He’ll be in a cast for a couple of weeks as he begins the rehab process,” said Coach Napier.
With a very young and inexperienced quarterback room, this is huge news for the Gators. Having said that though, Coach Napier has seen major strides in redshirt Sophomore Quarterback Kyle Engel and Freshman Quarterback Jalen Kitna.
“I think there’s very much a competition for the back-up spot,” said Napier. “I think we’ve seen Kitna do some good things, and we’ve seen Engel do some good things. Max is a little bit behind mentally, obviously being a rookie. Those two will be observed over the next couple days. Both of those guys are really smart, have a good understanding about what we do, and have moved the team. This scrimmage showed that they had the ability to move the team,” said Napier.
Gator fans can take a deep breath after today in hopes that Quarterback Jack Miller will be ready to back-up Quarterback Anthony Richardson come week three against USF. Unless Richardson gets hurt within the first two weeks, I wouldn’t worry too much about this quarterback room. Coach Billy Napier has a plan and will have his quarterbacks ready to go in two weeks.