Meyer updates football injuries

IHateUGAlyDawgs · Post by **IHateUGAlyDawgs** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:54 pm

The Florida Gators continue to defend their national championship this Saturday when Troy comes to town. This year’s version of the Trojans will have their minds set on an upset and Coach Meyer isn't taking them lightly. With one game down, the Gators are a fairly healthy team, but they do have some nagging injuries that they are dealing with.

The injury situation at cornerback is a bit muddled as one cornerback should return to play this week and Meyer ruled out another one for game two.

Starting sophomore cornerback Markihe Anderson missed the opener against Western Kentucky— his sprained knee is a little better according to Meyer and he expects him to play this weekend. However, backup junior cornerback Markus Manson will likely miss the contest. True freshman offensive lineman practiced a little on Wednesday and should be good to play for the Tennessee game if needed.

“Markihe practiced today— a little tentative—but he practiced,” Meyer said Wednesday evening. “He should be able to play this weekend. Markus Manson has a sprained ankle and won’t be able to play this weekend… James Wilson was running around and should be able to go next week.”

One concern for Meyer that will probably linger all season is star sophomore wide receiver Percy Harvin. Harvin has a case of tendonitis that flares up from time to time and does limit his production in practice. It is something that saw him miss playing time last season as well.

“Percy has some tendonitis issues, but I think he will be okay,” Meyer said.

When asked if he was practicing Meyer responded, “Yes, off and on.” And if he would be held back any? “No, not if he can go.”

Meyer talked briefly about Troy and what they bring to the table offensively. Their offense is similar to the Gators in that they spread the field and try and make use of the entire width of the football field.

“They try to spread you out and create mismatches for you,” he said. “They try and make running lanes. They know exactly what they are doing and they have good personnel.”

One position scrutinized by the head coach in the opening game is defensive tackle. Meyer wants to see more push coming from the interior of his defensive line. When asked about a rotation change this week, Meyer said a couple of players will see some significant time. Red-shirt freshman Lawrence Marsh was suspended last week and true freshman Torrey Davis will be a force according to Meyer earlier this week.

“Marsh will be involved and Torrey Davis will be a little more involved,” Meyer said. “So, that is two more bodies that didn’t play much Saturday and one that didn’t play at all.”

One player not mentioned on the unofficial two-deep roster for the second week in a row is red-shirt freshman Jamar Hornsby. Hornsby is a safety that seemed to play well this fall so far. Meyer says that Hornsby is doing what they want him to do and playing well on special teams where he gets a lot of game action.

“He is getting better, Meyer said. “There are at least three special teams he is starting.”

When asked if Hornsby was in the doghouse, Meyer responded, “No, not at all.”

Safety Coach John “Doc” Holliday reiterated Hornsby’s important role on special teams and also talked about a missed opportunity for him to see game time when the first game of the season

“We were in a situation where we had eight minutes to go and we don’t know what would have happened,” Holliday said. “We put a lot of stock in special teams here and he played 15-20 plays on special teams. He is getting better, so we will just have to see how it goes.”

The John Brown watch continues and Meyer changed his tune a little bit today when asked about the true freshman defensive tackle’s situation with the Clearinghouse and being eligible to play at the University of Florida.

“It is getting positive from the feedback we are getting right now,” Meyer said, but would not elaborate on what that meant.

radbag · Post by **radbag** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:56 pm

AND brandon james is back.

RickySlade · Post by **RickySlade** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:19 am

At this rate, Davis will by starting in a couple of weeks...I seem to remember him playing a lot against WKU. It's too bad Brown got his info into the clearinghouse so late...I'm confident he would have been starting by the end of the season.

a1bion · Post by **a1bion** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:23 am

Troy should be a good test for our secondary leading up to UT. Looking forward to seeing if they can grow up some.

And I read somewhere else that Meyer wants to see Hornsby contribute to special teams before he gives him a shot at making it into the rotation. Hopefully, he steps up to the plate.

IHateUGAlyDawgs · Post by **IHateUGAlyDawgs** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:25 am

^^^the way I read it is that Hornsby already was contributing on special teams and that he was one of those who was hurt by the loss of the 8+ minutes.

RickySlade · Post by **RickySlade** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:37 am

Concur...

a1bion · Post by **a1bion** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 9:25 am

^^^the way I read it is that Hornsby already was contributing on special teams and that he was one of those who was hurt by the loss of the 8+ minutes.

That makes sense. I realized after I posted that where I'd heard Meyer wanted Hornsby to see action on special teams was from Urban's call in show priot to the WKU game. Someone asked about Hornsby and Meyer said he didn't want to put him into the rotation until Hornsby had made some special teams contributions, because that's how you earn playing time.