Florida football loses electric RB Malik Davis indefinitely to broken foot

By Adam Silverstein
September 17, 2018
Florida football loses electric RB Malik Davis indefinitely to broken foot
Football

Image Credit: ESPN Images

It did not look good when sophomore running back Malik Davis went down in Saturday’s game against Colorado State and hobbled off the field. Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen confirmed as much Monday when he announced that Davis broke his foot in Florida’s third game of the season and will be out “for an extended period of time.”

Davis, who averaged 6.7 yards per carry after ultimately taking over the Gators’ starting job during the 2017 season, was a bright spot on Florida’s struggling offense a year ago until he suffered a serious knee injury against Georgia and was sidelined for the final four games. He spent the entire offseason rehabilitating the injury and played sparingly at the onset of the 2018 campaign as he worked his way back to becoming comfortable on the field.

The injury to Davis comes just as it looked like Mullen was planning to utilize him more. With redshirt junior Jordan Scarlett starting and junior Lamical Perine handling carries behind him, Davis was primarily playing third on the depth chart until he limped off the field Saturday. It is expected that freshman Dameon Pierce will take Davis’ snaps after excelling in limited garbage-time action through the first three games. Pierce took nine carries for 75 yards against Charleston Southern and five for 87 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown, against Colorado State; he did not play vs. Kentucky.

Florida is only averaging 20 carries by running backs through three games.

Davis is the second impact player to be lost for the season through three weeks as sophomore cornerback Marco Wilson was injured early against Kentucky and ruled out until 2019 with a torn ACL.

Mullen also announced that he expects junior linebacker David Reese and redshirt sophomore defensive back C.J. McWilliams to be ready to play for Florida at Tennessee this week. Neither Reese nor McWilliams have played yet this season while recovering from injuries suffered during training camp.

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