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Florida Gators EDGE Justus Boone out for season with torn ACL

On3 imageby: Zach Abolverdi08/11/23ZachAbolverdi
Florida-Gators-Justus-Boone
Florida Gators defensive lineman Justus Boone. (Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida starting EDGE Justus Boone suffered a lower body injury during Thursday’s scrimmage. Gators coach Billy Napier provided an update on Boone’s status on Friday.

“Justus Boone has torn his ACL and will have surgery in about two weeks,” Napier said. “This is one of the more challenging parts of the job. … We’re going to rally around Boone. There are a ton of success stories of players who’ve had this injury. All Gators need to lift up Boone today. He’s one of the best ones we have.”

Boone appeared in all 13 games last season and started twice, finishing with 24 tackles, a TFL, a sack and a quarterback hurry. He made his first career start against Eastern Washington.

With Princely Umanmielen moving to outside linebacker this year, Boone is now the full-time starter at defensive end. He has also emerged as one of the leaders on defense.

When Napier was asked which players made huge strides in the spring, the first one he listed was Boone.

“I’ve been impressed with Boone,” Napier said. “Boone has shown maturity. I like his practice habits, like his leadership. He’s really grown as a man and his character.”

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Boone was one of 16 players named as team leaders for Regimen workouts during the summer and the staff also recognized him as the GatorMade Danny Wuerffel Man of the Month in June.

“It felt pretty good,” Boone said of the honor. “I put in a lot of work that month to try to go outside of my own mindset of caring about myself and just putting people before myself. That’s something that coach Napier always talks about, putting your acts of service to your teammates before yourself.

“I pride myself a lot on that. Honestly, since my freshman year I’ve accepted the fact and taken the role of being a good teammate regardless of who the star player is and making plays whether you’re the scout team player that’s giving the look. I’ve been priding myself on being able to step up.”

The 6-foot-4, 263-pound Boone appeared in two games as a true freshman in 2021 and redshirted. He was a four-star recruit and the consensus No. 2 player in the state of South Carolina. Boone was also ranked as a top-200 overall prospect by On3 and 247Sports.

Boone joined The Paul Finebaum Show earlier this month to discuss his second annual camp for kids and shared a remarkable story about how he got his name from his mother.

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