Gators QB signee DJ Lagway details Under Armour All-America Game injury
ORLANDO, FLORIDA — Touted Florida Gators quarterback signee DJ Lagway was in good spirits following Wednesday’s Under Armour All-America Game — a game he left in the first half with a foot injury.
“It’s still hurting; it’s pretty bad,” Lagway said. “It’ll be alright.”
Thursday morning, Lagway and his family will head north 95 miles to Gainesville, where the Five-Star Plus+ prospect will embark on his college career. He had a strong week of practice in preparation for Wednesday’s game, but faced constant pressure from the opposing defensive line on his two first-half drives. On one, Lagway led Team Fire to its only offensive points (a field goal) in a 39-9 loss.
But on the scoring series, his right foot took some punishment.
“I got tackled on the sideline and got rolled up,” Lagway said. “And then I threw a pass and I got stepped on.”
He further described the first play of that sequence like this: “It was as I was trying to get away. I don’t call it a run, really. It was (me) trying to get to the sideline and I got tackled.”
Lagway never played another series after that one and at times iced his foot on the sidelines. Being an all-star game, it simply wasn’t worth the risk of further injuring the foot by re-entering the game. The decision to not return was fairly easy to make.
“Yeah, kind of it was because it (started) to get worse,” Lagway said. “When it started to get worse, I was like, I can’t (go).”
DJ Lagway thinks he could have kept playing had it been a regular game
But Lagway said it might have been a different story had it been a more meaningful game.
“Yeah, I think I could have (returned),” he said. “But like right now, I don’t know about that. But when it happened, I feel like I could have.”
Lagway, the No. 2 quarterback and No. 10 overall recruit nationally in the On3 Industry Rankings, finished the game 5-of-10 passing for 46 yards and added 10 rushing yards on four carries. His team, stymied by poor offensive line play from beginning to end, had only 163 total yards and threw three interceptions (none from Lagway).
Florida linebacker signees Aaron Chiles (two fumble returns, one for a touchdown) and Myles Graham (team-high five tackles) were among the top players on Lagway’s squad.
For Lagway, it’s next stop Gainesville.
“I can’t wait to get to Florida,” Lagway said.
