Camp Meyer doesn’t begin until Friday night when theFlorida Gators check into the team hotel where they will stay untilschool starts, but the next few days of practice will give him a chanceto evaluate a lot of the young players on his roster. It has been aquiet offseason for Meyer and the Gators and that only added to theanticipation of Monday’s opening day of fall football practice.
TheGators practiced twice Monday. Freshmen, some of the redshirt freshmenand walk-ons practiced early morning and in the afternoon, thereturning veterans took the field for a hard working two-hour session.
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In the morning session, freshman Adrian Bushell was present but notdressed out as he awaits notification from the NCAA Clearinghouse thathe’s eligible to play football. Notably absent from the afternoonsession were sophomore defensive tackle Torrey Davis and third yearsophomore safety Bryan Thomas.
“Torrey Davis is dealing with some academic issues and some otherissues,” said Meyer, who added that there is no timetable set for hisreturn.
Thomas has had a cyst removed from his knee and he’s rehabbing it. Ithas been a string of bad luck with injuries for Thomas since he came tothe University of Florida. He tore a meniscus in his knee in the springof his senior year in high school at Zephyrhills and then tore it againjust a week before the 2006 season began. Last year he was hindered bya variety of nagging injuries.
Meyer expects Thomas to return to the practice field fairly soon.
“He should be back here maybe when school starts, maybe before,” said Meyer.
With Thomas out for a couple of weeks and season ending injuries toDorian Munroe and John Curtis, the Gators are thin at the safetyposition. In the morning session, freshman T.J. Lawrence, recruited asa wide receiver, was working out at safety in tandem with Will Hill.There is also some thought about moving freshman corner Janoris Jenkinsto safety to add some depth.
“I think Janoris is a tremendous football payer and that’s safetyposition has been thinned out a little so he’s a guy [we’d considermoving] but we haven’t made that move,” said Meyer.
Munroe’s loss will be felt in more than one way. He was anoutstanding special teams player and he could play both safety slotsand the nickel.
“That hurt because he’s such a quality person,” said Meyer. “It hurt special teams and it hurt depth at safety.”
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Meyer said that All-SEC kick returner Brandon James will continue towork in the slot and at running back. Monday James, who is only 5-6 but187 pounds, played in the slot and he looked very good with his routerunning and catching the ball.
“He’s a very natural catcher,” said Meyer. “He’s just short. Thequarterback has to be right on the target with a short receiver.”
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All-everything Percy Harvin was seen running and doing a few drillson his own. Harvin is obviously bulked up, easily above the 200 poundmark and with an upper body that makes him look like the heavyweightchampion of the world. Recovering from heel surgery in the spring,Harvin looks like he’s about 100 percent but Meyer said his widereceiver/tailback do-it-all will be brought along slowly in August.
“He came out today and opened it up a little bit,” said Meyer. “Mybiggest concern is not his heel but that some other part of his body isgoing to react like what happened last year with the knee and with thetendonitis in the hip and all that mess. That’s our biggest concern andwe just want to do it right.”
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Meyer issued a statement about Ronnie Wilson earlier in the day thatmade it clear that Wilson has begun practicing with the team but stillworking to fulfill other requirements before he can be considered forreinstatement.
Asked for further comment, Meyer said, “He’s not back. We’re stillevaluating him. I have a lot of history of giving guys opportunities.He’s 29 credits away from graduation and a lot of thought went intoit.”
Wilson has passed 20 credit hours since the spring and he’s working to finish up another six credit hours in Summer B.
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With senior Phil Trautwein returning after missing last year with astress fracture in his foot, the Gators can move Jason Watkins to righttackle where he’s more of a natural. With Trautwein and Watkins, Meyerhas two fifth-year seniors at tackle and that’s a good situation tostart the season.
Meyer says that Trautwein actually benefitted from missing the 2007 season.
“He needed that extra year,” said Meyer. “For his career andobviously for us, that was a blessing in disguise. He’s stronger, moreprepared to be a senior offensive tackle in the SEC.”
Watkins started all 13 games last season at left tackle, but now he will move to right tackle where he’s more comfortable.
“With Tim (Tebow) as a lefthanded quarterback there is that wholetheory about his right side is his blind side and you put your besttackle there but Jason Watkins has really improved as well,” saidMeyer. “Phil’s a little more natural on the left side so we’re going tostay left and right with those two. Those two are great looking playersand they have had great summers. That’s the way it’s supposed to look.”
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Another player who will be brought along slowly in August is widereceiver Riley Cooper, who doubles as an outfielder on the Floridabaseball team. Cooper played baseball during the summer and justreturned to campus about a week ago.
Since arriving on campus at UF, Cooper has had injury problems thathave limited his playing time. Last year he had foot problems thatplagued him throughout the season and limited him to eight catches.
Meyer said Cooper had a great practice day Monday but there will always be the concerns about his feet.
“I’m just worried about his feet getting a little sore so we have tomanage him,” said Meyer. “I’m not sure he can go two times at practice[during two-a-days] but he had a great day today and we’re glad to seehim back. We’re getting him treatment but it was great to see him backout here.”
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Meyer has been looking to find a go-to guy at tailback ever since hearrived at Florida but without success. This season it might not be agood idea to have one guy at the position. The Gators have an almostembarrassment of riches and a tremendous combination of size and speedto work with. Kestahn Moore is the lone senior tailback and the mostexperienced but he will be pushed by Harvin, who will double as a widereceiver, Chris Rainey, Emmanuel Moody, Mon Williams and Brandon James.
Instead of one guy to turn to, Meyer might just go with whoever is hot at the moment.
“I think everybody wants that one guy but I’ve never had one,” saidMeyer. “At Utah we had those two, one that ran for 800 and one for 900yards. Kestahn Moore and Emmanuel Moody looked good today and so didChris Rainey. We’ve got some playmakers back there. I think we’re allset at running back.”
Meyer is hoping that Williams can return full speed from an ACL that kept him out all last season.
“He’s working awfully hard,” said Meyer. “He hasn’t been right sincehis knee injury. He had that one day in spring and he had an excellentpractice and today he looked fine. Those knees are hard to overcome buthe’s a tough kid and he’s doing very well.”
