Questions abound as Florida Gators enter game week

The Florida Gators are nine days away from opening its second season under the direction of Jim McElwain. Thursday marks the beginning of game prep for Florida’s first opponent of the season, UMass but Florida seemingly walks into that game with more questions that answers.

All-American cornerback Teez Tabor and tight end C’yontai Lewis were suspended from the team a week ago, following an altercation at practice. Tabor and Lewis will return to the team Thursday for practice, the first day that the Gators will turn its attention to opening day opponent UMass, but the duo remains suspended for that game.

Their status is known but several other players, for varying reasons, remain in limbo. The most notable of the group is receiver Antonio Callaway. After receiving a favorable ruling in a Title IX hearing more than two weeks ago, McElwain still is unsure about the status of his only proven returning skill position player.

“Yeah, we’re still working through some things,” McElwain deflected when asked about Callaway’s status.

It should be noted that McElwain is at the behest of the University of Florida in this matter, but Callaway’s admission in a document released after the Title IX decision to smoking marijuana could complicate things.

Freshmen receivers Tyrie Cleveland and Rick Wells have also been absent at practices this week. The two were arrested after video surveillance caught both shooting BB guns into an on campus residence hall. The court has not released any new dockets since July 27, a designation of e-mail address for e-service from State Attorney Bill Cervone,

“Those two guys are obviously going through some things and dealing with some things, but they’ll be back,” McElwain said Thursday.

Another receiver, C.J. Worton, has been absent from practice. Worton was in a walking boot last week before showing up to Florida’s fan day without the boot. The junior receiver still has not been practicing with the team while dealing with the ankle injury.

“I’ve been a little nervous because obviously he’s been out for such a long time, yet the old, dreaded high-ankle sprain,” said McElwain. “Exactly what that means I don’t know other than the fact that it’s not low. But it surely seems to take some time to get back and yet the one thing we do is we’ve got great doctors, we’ve got great trainers. We never push anybody back before they’re ready, and that’d be the case there, and we miss him.”

Florida’s offense is hoping to turn around a lull that has lasted half a decade. It looks like, at least for the first week, that they’ll have to begin that quest with less than a full deck.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC