Final injury report for the Florida Gators season opener at Utah
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Billy Napier released his team’s injury report Monday for the season opener against Utah. The Gators have three players listed as questionable for Thursday’s game.
The most notable name is redshirt junior center Kingsley Eguakun, who’s been out since Aug. 17 with a lower body injury. Eguakun was described by Napier as “day-to-day” last Friday and is now questionable.
“He’s making progress. He’s not quite there yet,” Napier said. “We’re always very transparent and I think questionable would be the right description.”
If Eguakun can’t play against the Utes, redshirt sophomore center Jake Slaughter would make his first career start with true freshman Knijeah Harris as his backup. Slaughter started in place of Eguakun in the spring game as well as the last scrimmage of fall camp.
“Jake Slaughter is a player I have the utmost confidence in. He’s been outstanding in his role. It’s really important to Jake. He wants to do his job for his teammates. He cares about the University of Florida. It’s kind of in his DNA to some degree, being local,” Napier said of Slaughter, an Ocala native.
“So he’s done fantastic, and I do think we’ve worked other players there. Obviously Knijeah, but Richie Leonard can play center. Rod Kearney is a good young prospect that can play there. I think we feel good about the depth there of the interior offensive line. It’s a good group.”
Two more Gators questionable
In addition to Eguakun, redshirt sophomore quarterback Jack Miller III (shoulder)and redshirt freshman defensive lineman Chris McClellan (lower body) are questionable for the Utah game.
Miller is the backup to starting QB Graham Mertz, while McClellan is listed as one of starters at defensive end with him “or” redshirt freshman Caleb Banks being the top options at the position. True freshman Will Norman is third string.
Miller missed the last five practices of fall camp and Napier said he has tendinitis in his rotator cuff. Redshirt freshman Max Brown is listed as QB3 behind Mertz and Miller.
“Max has made improvement,” Napier said. “I think he’s a classic example of a really good athlete and just started playing quarterback a couple of years in high school. And we took the guy for those reasons specifically. The pedigree of an athlete. The guy is a really good baseball player. The guy can run. He’s gained like eight or nine pounds and lean muscle too. So, I think just a repetition of throwing and catching. The quarterback blueprint that we use in the summer is pretty rigorous, and I think he’s benefited from that.
“But there’s no doubt his accuracy is improved. I think he’s cleaned up his footwork, his stroke is much more consistent. And again, I think there’s some knowledge that contributes to that table in terms of understanding the system, so I think Max has come along pretty nicely. So still, there’s an information gap there. He’s got to catch up mentally. But his work ethic this summer has impressed the staff and impressed the players. So, he’s kind of got right in there and Graham’s hip pocket and he’s worked the way that you would want a quarterback to work.”
