The Florida Gators received good news on Thursday from two key returning starters.
Both Trevon Grimes and Zach Carter had been absent from the first three practices. Grimes’ mother reportedly battled cancer around the time of his transfer from Ohio State to Florida and is a frontline worker critical care nurse at Memorial Hospital in Coral Springs. Carter tweeted that a close family friend had passed away due to complications from COVID-19 and that was the cause of his absence from the first few practices of fall camp.
https://twitter.com/_ZachAttacks/status/1296453207024177153?s=20
Thursday night Grimes tweeted a response to someone saying he will play in 2020.
https://twitter.com/Trevongrimes8/status/1296653495018426369
Grimes’ decision to play for the Gators in 2020 is huge. Florida lost four receivers to the NFL, accounting for 139 catches, 1,871 yards, and 16 touchdowns. Include all of the players who caught passes that are no longer on the team and Florida is losing 57% of their receptions from the 2019 roster. Grimes’ 33 catches in 2019 were fourth-best among the Gators and he is not only productive off the field but a well-liked leader off of it.
“I think it’s tough on everybody. These are unique times. It’s just something else. We have players that deal with all kinds of different things, that have dealt with all kinds of different issues, lots of different family issues, so many different things that are going on right now,” Dan Mullen said on Thursday. “Everybody handles things differently, and everybody’s kind of got to make their own decisions in what’s going on and where they’re at. Our job is to just kind of help guide them and manage them and support them in their decisions.”
Grimes hauled in 33 passes for 491 yards and three touchdowns in 2019, only tight end Kyle Pitts returns with better receiving stats than Grimes.
Carter is a versatile player along the Gators’ defensive line. The redshirt junior played in all 13 games last season, with two starts. He has played inside at defensive tackle as well as a strong-side defensive end. Carter’s presence will be crucial with Florida trying to replace Jonathan Greenard, Jabari Zuniga, and Adam Shuler.
Both players have very personal and legitimate concerns and personal experiences with the current COVID-19 pandemic. After both players made their experiences public it would be hard-pressed to find a reason to object to them missing the first three practices of camp given their situations but Gator fans will be happy when the pair return to the practices field as they have both stated they will do.