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Florida Gators injury report adds Matt Jones, seven starters out for season

Florida's been beset by significant injuries all over its roster in 2013.

By Andy Hutchins
Andy Lyons

The long list of injuries suffered by Florida Gators players in 2013 just keeps getting longer.

Seven Gators, including five starters, have suffered season-ending injuries since the beginning of fall camp, with the latest being starting running back Matt Jones, who tore his meniscus on Saturday against LSU. Florida's lost its entire projected starting backfield with season-ending injuries to Jeff Driskel and Jones, and lost its most talented defender, Dominique Easley, as well.

The relative good health of the 2012 season seems like it was ages ago.

Once again, we'll run down Florida's injury situation with the help of charts.

Season-Ending Injuries

Player Position Injury Date
Andre Debose WR Torn ACL August 6
Matt Rolin¹ OLB Torn ACL August 8
Chaz Green RT Torn labrum ~August 26
Nick Washington¹ CB Shoulder September 11
Jeff Driskel QB Broken fibula September 21
Dominique Easley DT Torn ACL, meniscus September 24
Matt Jones RB Torn meniscus October 12

Florida's lost five starters (counting Debose, Florida's starting kick returner) for the fall, and lost all of them before the midpoint of its season. And it has lost its starting quarterback, running back, and defensive tackle, players at positions where the dropoff from starter to backup was projected to be substantial at the beginning of the season.

Tyler Murphy's good play has improbably made Driskel's loss the least painful of the bunch so far, but Easley has been sorely missed, and was especially sorely missed against LSU. And Jones's absence may force a revamp of Florida's offensive approach, given that his talents as an all-around back were singular on Florida's roster.

Next up, a look at the players who have missed snaps due to injury.

Injuries Resulting in Missed Snaps

Player Position Injury Time Missed
Matt Jones RB Viral infection, torn meniscus Full Toledo game, most of LSU game
Mack Brown RB Ankle Part of LSU game
Valdez Showers RB Ankle Full Tennessee game, full Kentucky game
Colin Thompson¹ TE Foot stress fracture "Several weeks" post-Tennessee
D.J. Humphries LT Sprained MCL Parts of Toledo, Miami games
Max Garcia LG (OL) Unknown Part of Miami game
Jonotthan Harrison C Unknown Part of Miami game
Jon Halapio RG Torn pectoral; eye poke Full Toledo and Miami games
Tyler Moore RT (OL) Ankle Part of Miami game; full Tennessee game
Leon Orr DT Shoulder Part of Tennessee game
Damien Jacobs DT Head Part of LSU game
Alex Anzalone¹ LB Ankle Full LSU game
Marcus Roberson CB Knee Full Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas games
Loucheiz Purifoy CB Thigh contusion Part of Tennessee game

Combine this list with the above list, and at least 21 Florida players have missed snaps this fall thanks to injury — including a staggering 13 offensive and defensive starters. That total grows to 14 starters when including Debose.

Florida's entire offensive line has missed time at one point or another, and Green's injury was already forcing less experienced backups into action. Both of the Gators' top two running backs and both of their top two corners have been hurt. Arguably, Vernon Hargreaves III also missed snaps against LSU, though his injury occurred at the end of a drive, and he returned to the game.

And, as a reminer, minor and undisclosed injuries happen, too. The Palm Beach Post's Jason Lieser previously put Raphael Andrades, Marcell Harris, and Quinteze Williams on an injury report, and Dante Fowler, Jr. and Marcus Maye have turned up on injury reports, though they haven't missed time due to injury.

These injuries leave the Gators looking significantly diminished, and at the worst time possible: If Florida falls to Missouri in Columbia this week, it will need the Tigers to lose at least two SEC games to win the SEC East; even if the Gators beat Missouri, they will likely need to sweep Georgia, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina after their bye to represent the East in Atlanta.

And as the Week 8 polls suggest, Florida's remaining schedule is tremendously difficult: The Gators will see four of the top 15 teams in the country before the end of the year, and just one of those teams, Florida State, will meet the Gators in Gainesville.

This is bad, but it's mostly horrific luck: If this isn't the worst spate of luck when it comes to injuries in Florida's modern history, I certainly couldn't tell you what is. Florida will still have to play those six remaining games, though, and Florida will find a way to field a team.

Will Muschamp's fond of his "Man down, man up" mantra. 2013 is testing it to its limits.

Star-divide

  1. While Rolin never saw the field, he would likely have played on special teams; Washington and Anzalone both contributed on special teams when healthy.

  2. Thompson played in Florida's first three games.

Star-divide

Andy Hutchins is Alligator Army's managing editor. Follow Alligator Army on Twitter and Facebook.

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