8/13: Florida Gators 2010 fall practice updates

By Adam Silverstein
August 13, 2010

The 2010 version of the Florida Gators has been participating fall practice for just about a week and, while the activities were closed to both the media and public, some notable things did occur during the morning session. OGGOA has compiled some of the key details learned throughout the day.

DEHYDRATION CONCERNS

The University of Florida announced Friday afternoon that senior linebacker Brandon Hicks left morning practice and was rushed to a hospital to be treated for dehydration. A team spokesperson said Hicks is “doing fine” and is expected to fully recover.

SPEEDSTER RETURNS

Redshirt junior running back Chris Rainey is fast, but an accelerated heart rate had kept him out of practice for a few days. After undergoing a non-invasive procedure and resting, Rainey returned to practice Friday but was held out of contract drills. He will get contact either Saturday during the Gators’ first scrimmage of the fall or when practice resumes on Monday.

CAST OFF

Seemingly always injured, redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Matt Patchan suffered a hairline fracture in his wrist a few practices ago and was scheduled to miss action for 10-14 days. Head coach Urban Meyer told reporters Friday that Patchan’s cast is coming off and he will begin working out again on Saturday.

Check out the rest of Friday’s morning practice notes…after the break!

FRESHMEN FACTORS

Meyer usually falls in love with a freshman or two right when fall practice begins; this season he has singled out wide receiver Robert Clark and linebacker Michael Taylor as his early favorites. Both had their respective black helmet stripes removed earlier in the week – Clark first – and are impressing Meyer with their tenacity.

Meyer on Clark: “He is the Energizer Bunny. He goes as hard as he can. I wish he was a little taller and a little faster, but he’s tough as nails and making plays. He’ll hit you. He was the first guy to get his stripe off. It’s kind of cool to see that.

Meyer on Taylor: “He strikes you. He loves the game. I’m hoping he’s our [Ryan] Stamper, a guy that doesn’t look physically imposing, but boy, he strikes you.”

MEDIA AVAILABILITY QUOTES

Meyer on his phone call with Alabama head coach Nick Saban, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and others regarding agents: “I loved it. I love the fact you have everybody involved and everybody wanting to do right. There actually were some agents on the phone, the NFLPA, the commissioner and some college football coaches. It was about as positive as you can get. Because everybody wants to do right. You get stereotyped, the agents, the coaches, the players. Obviously, there are a lot of people who don’t want to do it right. The majority, I would say, want to do it right. […] You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to figure this thing out, now. You want to stop some kind of unethical, illegal activity. How do you do it? You punish them. Players get punished, and you want to stop the other side [agents], too. It’s almost like in recruiting. If there is no threat of punishment, you’ll have at it. Certain people of integrity are going to do it the right way anyway. A good bunch won’t because no punishment, have at it. In recruiting, some things are going on, too, and this agent thing. There are a lot of positives going around for the good of college football. We can’t lose college football. We just can’t.”

Meyer on the team’s progression: “I love this team so far. I like what’s going on right now. As I get to sit back and watch practice, I’m seeing a lot of effort. We’re not very good right now, but I like what’s going on. And good coaching. I’m very impressed with what’s going on with our staff. This is the year of accountability and development, and development is going on. There are only a couple of weeks left to do it, that’s the only problem.”

Meyer on Saturday’s scrimmage: “[Finding] playmakers is still my big issue, and solidifying the [offensive] front five, who they’re going to be. I think we know who three or four will be. We’ve got to establish a [defensive line] rotation up front, and I couldn’t tell you who our starting linebackers are right now.”

Special thanks to The Gainesville Sun for some of the quotations above.

7 Comments

  1. Gatorbuc15 says:

    Never like hearing about a player having to get rushed to the hospital, due to dehydration. Thankfully, it sounds like Hicks will be fine. And, I’m also happy that Rainey’s heart problem sounds like nothing serious either. Heart problems can be very tricky.

    Get well guys!

  2. Great news on the stripes coming off. Would love for someone like the old Saurian Sagacity due to a statistical regression analysis on any correlation to stripes coming off, recruiting stars, freshman playing time and future stardom.

    I’d bet that the best prediction of future success has to do with how high your recruiting ranking was and that you still came through with the effort to get that stripe off quickly in camp.

    Thanks for your coverage OGGOA, it makes it easier to follow all things Gators here on the Best Coast.

  3. Wingtee says:

    What the heck dog? That made a lot of sense!

  4. Tampa Tom says:

    Hope everyone can just sit back and enjoy the RUN that we are about to go on for the next 4 or 5 years. This team is loaded!!!!!!!

  5. Timmy T says:

    Adam, good stuff as usual. I saw where you said this was a one man operation. I have to tell you, I’m impressed and appreciative.
    If I might make a suggestion for some “filler”, give some post game assessments for the NFL rookies as they go through these preseason games.

  6. Daniel M. says:

    Great moments in Sentence Structure Failure.

    “Would love for someone like the old Saurian Sagacity due to a statistical regression analysis on any correlation to stripes coming off, recruiting stars, freshman playing time and future stardom.”

  7. O-town Gator says:

    It’s better to have our coaches hold out injured players or those with other health issues at this point; no sense in taking an unnecessary chance with them only to see their situations get worse. We don’t ever need to deal with what happened to Eraste Autin a way back, nor with what UCF had to deal with not that long ago (Ereck Plancher) and is still settling a wrongful-death lawsuit over.

    Nice to see this team coming along nicely; the more fine-tuned we get and the freshmen get acclimated, we’ll be in great shape for the rest of the season. The key is to have this team peak in the right place at the right time, and everything else will fall into place – that’s one of the reasons why we won all the marbles in ’06 & ’08. I’m not the least bit worried. Yes, Tampa Tom, I’m enjoying the ride – and it looks as though we have another stellar recruiting class shaping up for 2011!

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