Florida linebacker Shemar James being evaluated for leg injury

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It’s the time of the year when no news is good news, and unfortunately for Florida fans there is news out of fall camp on Thursday. Linebacker Shemar James has suffered a leg injury.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Zach Goodall, James is being evaluated for a leg injury suffered in Wednesday’s practice, according to multiple sources.

Florida coach Billy Napier addressed the media on Thursday afternoon and provided an update on James’ status, confirming that he suffered a lower body injury and that he is currently “day to day.”

James is expected to be a major contributor for Florida this fall.

He is one of a handful of linebackers returning on the interior who had some experience, having played in all 13 games a year ago as a true freshman, making four starts.

The talented prospect recorded 47 tackles, 2.0 tackles for a loss, 2.0 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery last season and is widely viewed as one of the team’s best up-and-coming players.

He is expected to compete for a starting job with the likes of transfer Teradja Mitchell and Derek Wingo.

Florida getting to battle adversity

Though the Gators certainly would have preferred to wait a little while to deal with adversity like the Shemar James injury, coach Billy Napier knew it was coming at some point and has been preaching to his squad it’s all about how you handle it.

It was one of the first things he said this fall as camp opened up.

“The cool thing about where we’re at is lots of parts of our building, players and staff, had to go through that,” said Napier, referring to the adversity of the 2022 season. “When you have adversity, I think it presents opportunity. The key here is that we grow through struggle. Anything that’s been built that’s accomplished anything significant went through some adversity. I think it’s all about how you respond to that.”

The Shemar James injury could provide some of that adversity depending on the severity. Who it will create opportunity for remains to be seen.