Sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway met with the media for the first time since Florida’s victory over Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl, which came with a dose of injury related questions at SEC Media Days.
At the start of spring camp, head coach Billy Napier announced that Lagway would be a limited throwing participant due to a shoulder and lower body injury. Panic set in across Gator Nation as the status of their starting quarterback was unclear. Lagway was not observed throwing in any of the media viewing sessions during spring camp but was participating in practice otherwise.
Fast forward to late May, Napier announced that Lagway had been throwing 210 passes a week across three sessions not including warm up passes, which was on schedule with Florida’s typical throwing program. In a recent update from Chris Doering, a UF alum and College Football Analyst on SEC Network, Lagway was dealing with a hernia that resurfaced from his high school days.
At SEC Media Days, Lagway confirmed with the media that he was battling injuries even before week one of his freshman campaign.
“I was hurting, I was playing through a lot of injury and adversity, early on, even before the Miami game,” Lagway said.
While specifics were not discussed, Lagway provided an update on his health, which included a joke that caught the attention of reporters standing by.
“I don’t have a prosthetic arm, Lagway joked. “I’m feeling great, training’s been amazing, I’ve been working, I’m actually getting better, I’m not just trying to get back to throwing the ball, I’ve been working on mechanics that’s going to help my accuracy this year, help my decision making.”
“I’m feeling great. I’m excited to get out there and compete with the guys. Anytime I can be out there with my teammates, having fun, competing. I’m a happy guy,” Lagway added.
When a reporter asked Lagway if he can make all the throws he made last year, he displayed a tremendous amount of confidence regarding his health.
“I’m going to make more of them, but that’s not my biggest thing right now,” Lagway said. “My biggest thing is making the boring throws more consistently.”
Napier added that Lagway is still throwing three times a week, including a session on Wednesday morning before leaving for SEC Media Days.
“We throw the quarterback three times a week, he’s continued to do that,” Napier said. “He actually had a good session this morning before we came here. So, we feel confident in terms of him being ready to go.”
Lagway’s health is priority number one in 2025 as the Florida Gators are building around their sophomore quarterback.
“He’s just a great competitor,” Napier said on Lagway. “He showed a ton of grit and toughness, played through some injuries, and obviously I thought he grew every week as he continued to get better, and I think year two for him has got a chance to be really special.”