Florida’s Luke Del Rio will miss spring practice after shoulder surgery

Florida Gators redshirt sophomore quarterback Luke Del Rio underwent shoulder surgery this week and will miss Florida’s spring practices, the program announced Thursday.

Florida head coach Jim McElwain announced Thursday that Del Rio, a redshirt junior and the Gators' starting quarterback to open last season, had shoulder surgery on Wednesday. The surgery was on Del Rio's left shoulder (his non-throwing one) and he will miss spring camp.

Del Rio suffered the shoulder injury on November 5 in Florida’s 31-10 loss to Arkansas, but stayed in that game for the duration. Del Rio had previously missed two games after suffering a knee injury against North Texas, and returned for Florida’s wins over Missouri and Georgia.

Del Rio was expected to compete for Florida’s starting quarterback job in spring practice with freshmen Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask, but his recovery will likely open the door for one of the freshmen to establish himself as the Gators’ starter entering the 2017 season.

Del Rio graduated from Florida in the fall and, as a result, could transfer to another FBS school as a graduate transfer and be eligible to play immediately. But Del Rio’s inability to participate in a spring practice anywhere after a shoulder surgery likely means he is looking at a backup role with another program or a shot at contributing for Florida this fall.