TAMPA — The Florida Gators took the field at Jesuit High School for their second practice in preparation for the bowl game. Florida will take on Iowa on January 2nd and it appears that they will have starting linebacker Alex Anzalone back in action.
Anzalone broke his left arm in a loss to Arkansas in November. He missed the Gators last four games but was able to practice prior to the holiday break back in Gainesville. Anzalone was held out of full-contact drills then, but was back in the fold on Wednesday going through practice in its entirety.
Anzalone had a large brace with tape around it protecting his left forearm, but getting the senior back against an Iowa team that features two 1,000-yard rushers is huge. Anzalone has 53 tackles, 4 for a loss and three sacks in 8 games this season.
It wasn’t all good news on the injury front. Senior linebacker Jarrad Davis, who was previously expected to be able to play in the bowl game, was not dressed out on Wednesday. Davis did some light stretching off to the side with other injured players that traveled but didn’t participate. McElwain didn’t have a full injury report Wednesday.
“Friday I’ll have the full report as to who’s there. We’ve had some guys actually go through workouts,” he said. “Today will be a full padded practice for us, so we’ll be able to hit each other a little bit and kind of see where some guys are and kind of get a better idea on that. But nothing has really changed from that sheet that we went through prior.”
Players that were not dressed out for practice on Wednesday
LB Jarrad Davis
LB David Reese
DB Jeawon Taylor
DB Marcus Maye
DL Justus Reed
DL Jordan Sherit
DB Chris Williamson