Gators spring practice news and notes – 03/31

By Adam Silverstein
March 31, 2010

With the Florida Gators 2010 spring practice now in full swing, there is plenty of newsworthy information around the program. Rather than publishing it all in long form, OGGOA thought it would be best to lay it out piece-by-piece. We continue this series with a look at team practice from Wed., March 31.

Absences/Injuries:
» Redshirt senior wide receiver Carl Moore no-showed practice Wednesday for his second-straight absence. The Gainesville Sun reported Monday that Moore was “seen leaving the field after practice [on Saturday] visibly upset.” Moore had been seen in the football offices earlier in the day. (More in the quotes section.)

» Redshirt sophomore cornerback Adrian Bushell participated in his second consecutive practice and once again did not wear pads (as expected). He will likely return to full activity on Friday. Head coach Urban Meyer suspended him from team activities for two weeks for grades and other off-the-field issues.

» Redshirt freshman wide receiver Andre Debose spent most of practice off to the side on a stationary bike. The team continues to bring him along slowly as he recovers from his hamstring injury. Debose is expected to be 100 percent healthy for fall practice, according to The Gainesville Sun.

» Redshirt senior running back Emmanuel Moody practiced Wednesday and looked good by all accounts, breaking off a few nice runs. He had been out of action for a few days with an injured ankle.

Check out more practice news, notes and interesting quotes…after the break!

Scrimmage happenings:
» Florida’s WRs continue to impress, especially redshirt junior Deonte Thompson, sophomore Omarius Hines and redshirt freshman Frankie Hammond, Jr. Thompson had a nice catch over junior cornerback Janoris Jenkins in the end zone and had an all-around good day against the team’s top coverage man.

» Redshirt freshman linebacker Jelani Jenkins started in the middle for the third straight practice. Sophomore Jon Bostic, expected to be the starter, worked with the second team in the meantime

» The Gators are using a few defensive ends including senior Duke Lemmens and redshirt sophomore Earl Okine at tight end and fullback for precautionary reasons. Utilization would likely be for short yardage or goal line situations. (Ben Volin/PBP)

Other notes:
» Before practice, former Gators defensive end Carlos Dunlap worked out for the New Orleans Saints; the team has the No. 32 pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

» John Brantley, Sr. was at practice just three weeks after having prostate cancer surgery. He told those in attendance that he was feeling fine.

» Cleveland Browns safety Abram Elam, the brother of five-star freshman Matt Elam, was also seen at practice. Abram was recruited, played for and developed a strong relationship with head coach Urban Meyer at Notre Dame.

Interesting quotes:
» Meyer refused to speak to the media (aside from his outburst at a reporter last week) for the eighth straight day. He may remain silent until just before or right after the Orange & Blue Debut. At some point, he is going to need to address the media this spring.

» Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Steve Addazio on Moore’s continued absence: “He’s just working on some personal things right now. I’m just telling you, what I know right now is he’s just working on some personal business right now, that’s all.”

» Addazio on the rest of the receivers: “I think (WR coach) Zach Azzanni has done a great job really molding that unit with a lot of unit pride. You’re starting to see that right now, with that unit making progress. It’s like he had to reset his foundation and build it back up again. I think he’s done a great job with that. We’ve got a bunch of guys [contributing].”

» Addazio on Okine moving to TE: “It’s still a possibility, even though he’s doing really well on defense right now. He’s an athletic guy. He’s got a little punch to him [as a blocker]. This cat right there is a match-up problem. He’s 6-7 or 6-8. Look at him. We won’t be majoring in throwing [him] the ball now. We’ll watch and see if he can take the [defensive] end and go ‘bam’ like that [as a blocker].”

» Moody on his ankle injury: “I don’t get frustrated anymore with ankle injuries, or injuries period. It’s just a trial. It’s a time that is supposed to bring you down but I know it will only make me stronger. Sometimes you have people saying, ‘Oh, he’s hurt again,’ but I don’t care what people say. I feel like my ankle is going to be 100 percent and great for the season next year.”

» Tight ends coach Brian White on redshirt freshman Jordan Reed and freshman Gerald Christian: “Long way to go with both of them to become SEC championship caliber football players, but that’s why they put coach in front of my name. We can’t cancel the season, we’re not going to forfeit any games. September 4th there will be a tight end in our offense, and they will play good winning football.”

» White on Okine’s progress at TE: “As a point blocker, he’s really impressive. There will be a role for Earl. That’s what spring ball is for, experimenting and creating roles for people. I was impressed with Earl.”

Special thanks to the Palm Beach Post and The Gainesville Sun for the above quotes.

3 Comments

  1. ReptilesRule says:

    Carl Moore needs to get back on that practice field. Hope it gets all worked out. And where’s William Green? Is he hurt?

  2. npgator says:

    I hope Dubose doesn’t turn out to be another Willie Green. He almost is an afterthought since we haven’t even had a practice report. What’s up with Carl Moore? We here how well he has been doing and this is his final year and then all of the sudden he is not at practice after storming out last week!

  3. William Green had a good day at the scrimmage over the weekend and grabbed a few sacks. He’s practicing.

    Debose (that’s how you spell his name, not sure why 50% of people misspell it) is certainly not an afterthought. T hey are letting him heal rather than getting him re-injured. Not sure what the problem with that is…

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