Jim McElwain’s injury report on Monday left most fans wondering if they might be needed this Saturday when the Florida Gators host LSU. Wednesday’s injury update, however, should give fans peace of mind and allow them to put those old playing shoes back on the shelf to collect dust.
Junior left tackle David Sharpe (shoulder) was originally labeled as questionable but should be able to play this week after participating in practices Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I think he’s fighting through it. I think he wants to play in the game,” McElwain said of Sharpe. “He took most of the reps today, not necessarily in the high-speed competition stuff, but obviously in the other things. But I’m hoping he finds it in him to go out and play for the Gators.”
The same goes for defensive tackle Caleb Brantley (finger/hand) and defensive end Bryan Cox Jr. (leg).
“Caleb, yeah, he’ll be wrapped up pretty good with that hand but took a lot of the team run stuff today, so it was good to see,” said McElwain. “Cox is fine. He, I say he’s fine, that’s probably, it’s not the right statement, but he’s so driven and competitive, right? These are the things and the games that guys it really means something to, they rise up to another level. How do you miss this, a game against a team like this in the Swamp?”
The Gators will go into this game against the SEC’s second-best rushing attack without Joey Ivie (thumb) and Jordan Sherit (knee), so getting Cox and Brantley back is important. Cox was limited last week against Vanderbilt and it remains to be seen how limited he will be this week against LSU or if he will be limited at all. Brantley will play this week with a hard cast around his wrist, pinky and ring fingers. How that will affect his ability to grab onto players, shed blocks and make tackles is something to watch.
At quarterback, Luke Del Rio continues to practice and is getting better as the week goes on, although his status remains questionable.
“Luke split reps this week with Austin. After yesterday’s practice, which was pretty extensive obviously for a normal Tuesday, there was some stiffness and obviously there’s going to be this morning,” McElwain said. “He got back on the horse today and I thought looked pretty good, moving and sidestepping and doing some of the things in the move-the-pocket stuff that we need to do to be successful. We’ll find out really there again how it reacts tomorrow.”
McElwain said all four of his quarterbacks will be ready to go this week, but freshmen Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask have yet to play this season and likely won’t play this week either.
All signs are pointing to Del Rio returning this week as the starter, which is good news for the Gators.
“You know, I thought he was playing at a pretty high level,” McElwain said of Del Rio. “He was pretty on time with some things, just a step ahead of kind of understanding what, you know, with that, Austin did some good things to. But what he brings is another quarterback kin the meeting room who can go play. You know, and that’s a good thing for us.”