Chomping at Bits: Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio returns to practice

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Luke Del Rio back at practice: Del Rio participated in individual and non-contact drills at practice yesterday. Jim McElwain upgraded Del Rio’s status for Vanderbilt to “questionable” (after calling him “highly doubtful” on Monday) and noted that there was a possibility that he could potentially play if needed. Also noted is that Feleipe Franks took most of the reps with the second team offense (though not significantly more than Kyle Trask). (Gainesville Sun; Patrick Pinak, Florida Times Union; Ryan Young, SEC Country; Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel)

Gators have had trouble with early games: Jim McElwain recalls that the results in some of Florida’s noon games last year - Vanderbilt, FAU, the bowl game against Michigan - were not very good. (Robbie Andreu, Gainesville Sun)

Joey Ivie to miss four or five weeks: The defensive tackle suffered a thumb injury. (Thomas Goldkamp, 247 Sports; Zach Abolverdi, SEC Country)

SEC rules no suspension for Brandon Powell: Powell was ejected after supposedly “punching” Tennessee safety Rashaan Gaulden, whose dramatic flop drew a flag. Replays showed that Powell made no contact with Gaulden. (Ryan Young, SEC Country; Robbie Andreu, Gainesville Sun; Chris Harry, Florida Gators)

Links to Wednesday’s Florida football press conferences:

Can Austin Appleby challenge Luke Del Rio for playing time?: Appleby hopes so but says he doesn’t count his reps, and instead makes his reps count. (Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald)

Jim McElwain calls Vanderbilt linebacker Zach Cunningham “most underrated” player in the SEC: Cunningham ranks second in the SEC with 38 total tackles through four games. (Ryan Young, SEC Country)

Florida still playing catch-up in offensive line recruiting: Starting true freshmen on the line is a selling point for offensive line coach Mike Summers. (Zach Abolverdi, SEC Country)

Tim Tebow hits home run on his first at bat: Tebow was playing in his instructional league debut for the New York Mets. (Bill Whitehead, Gainesville Sun; Scott Carter, Florida Gators)

Florida hopes to learn from Tennessee game: The Gators need to figure out their communication breakdowns on both sides of the ball. (Matt Baker, Tampa Bay Times)

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