GAINESVILLE, Fla.– The injury bug waits for no one, and for Florida Gators interim head coach Billy Gonzales, he is learning how to navigate multiple injuries to his receiver rotation just one game into his new role.
Already without freshman Vernell Brown III and redshirt sophomore Aidan Mizell due to injury for the Georgia game, the Gators saw freshman star Dallas Wilson go down with a foot injury, which was later revealed to be a season-ending injury that required surgery.
“It’s hard. You know, for a coach, especially the coach that’s coached him and recruited him and has had a chance to work with him, seeing how hard he’s worked,” Gonzales said Monday of Wilson’s injury, which is unrelated to the foot injury he had in the preseason. “… One of the first things we did, we jumped on the bus on the way home, as we were driving away I walked down the bus and sat down with him for a little bit, sat next to him and just talked to him, put my arm around him, told him I loved him. It’s a setback but we’ll recover from it, he’ll be fine.”
Florida Gators wide receiver Dallas Wilson will miss the rest of the season with a foot injury. / Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
There also is no clear update on Brown III, who leads the team with 32 catches for 451 yards, or Mizell, who has missed multiple games due to various ailments this season.
“I’d love to have everybody that’s injured back. But we’ll find out,” he said. We’ll have practice here a little bit later today and see where (Brown III)’s at running around. But, yeah, I’m very hopeful to have (Brown III) back.”
Florida will have its first injury report, in which all three receivers could be included, on Wednesday night at approximately 8:10 p.m.
Should both Brown III and Mizell continue to miss more time, the Gators will have to rely heavily on veterans Eugene Wilson III, who set season-highs in receptions (nine) and yards (121) against Georgia, and J. Michael Sturdivant.
Eugene Wilson III set season-highs in receptions and yards in the Gators’ loss to Georgia. / Kyle Lander / Florida Gators on SI
Behind the two, it’s a group of inexperienced underclassmen. Yet, with the bulk of that group being multi-year players, Gonzales is hoping the development despite the inexperience can boost the rotation.
“You’ve always got to have a backup plan as far as being able to make sure guys can play. That’s development,” Gonzales said. “Hopefully we’ve done a good job of developing the players behind them to put them in a position.”
Sophomore Tank Hawkins (two catches for 16 yards) and redshirt freshman TJ Abrams (six catches for 97 yards) saw the field extensively against Georgia and would be the next two called up in the rotation.
Behind them, it’s a group of walk-ons, including special teams contributor Taylor Spierto, and true freshmen Muizz Tounkara and Naeshaun Montgomery, who have rarely seen the field.
Florida Gators wide receiver TJ Abrams could see his role expand after multiple injuries in front of him. / Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
Each, however, have garnered praise dating back to the offseason with Hawkins and Abrams praised for their speed, Tounkara and Montgomery praised for their talent despite their youth and Spierto praised for his veteran presence and leadership.
Sitting at 3-5 and needing to win three of its next four games to reach a bowl, Florida is hoping the unproven talent of its receiver depth can rise to the occasion down the stretch,
“We talked about this before. Competitive excellence, in my opinion, is when your number’s called you’re ready to make the play,” Gonzales said. “You don’t know when it’s going to happen, but when your number’s called, you better be ready. You’ve been prepared to go out perform in a game-time situation.”