:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59439991/usa_today_10325412.0.jpg)
Florida Gators linebacker/end Cece Jefferson had surgery on his right shoulder earlier this week and will miss four months, per Robbie Andreu of The Gainesville Sun.
Florida defensive end/outside linebacker Cece Jefferson underwent surgery on his right shoulder earlier this week and is out for four months, a source told The Sun today. He injured his shoulder in the first half of the spring game.
— Robbie Andreu (@RobbieAndreu) April 18, 2018
Jefferson likely will miss most or all of preseason camp in August, but might have a chance to return for the start of the season. UF would neither confirm nor deny that Jefferson has undergone surgery. Dan Mullen is reluctant to discuss injuries.
— Robbie Andreu (@RobbieAndreu) April 18, 2018
Jefferson was spotted on campus Wednesday wearing a cumbersome brace on his right arm on his way to a workout. The source termed his surgery as "significant."
— Robbie Andreu (@RobbieAndreu) April 18, 2018
Jefferson sustained what appeared to be a shoulder injury during the first half of Florida’s spring game. He left the game and did not return.
Jefferson, a former five-star prospect, has been intermittently effective throughout his Florida career, putting together a good enough season as a junior in 2017 — 47 tackles and a team-leading 13.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks — that he could plausibly have been drafted had he elected to enter the 2018 NFL Draft. Instead, he opted to stay, and is — was? — expected to play a larger role as a stand-up edge rusher in new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s scheme than he did as an end for Randy Shannon.
A shoulder injury and a four-month recovery that is likely to eat into much or all of his fall camp could very well scuttle those plans, and leave Florida looking at fellow underwhelming five-star Antonneous Clayton — who had a fine spring, by all accounts — and a gaggle of young and unproven players to fill the role of primary edge rusher.