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Florida Gators junior quarterback Feleipe Franks is likely to miss the rest of the 2019 season after suffering a dislocated ankle, Florida coach Dan Mullen told media after the Gators’ 29-21 win over the Wildcats.
Mullen said Franks out for year.
— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) September 15, 2019
Dan Mullen on Feleipe Franks: “They feel pretty certain that there was a break with the dislocation and he’ll be done for the season.” #Gators
— Nick de la Torre (@NickdelaTorreGC) September 15, 2019
Franks went down with what appeared to be a lower-body injury late in the third quarter of Saturday night’s game against Kentucky.
Franks was stopped short of the line to gain on a scramble on a fourth down by the Wildcats, and appeared to have his lower half wrenched under a Kentucky defender during the process of the tackle.
Franks would remain on the ground for an extended period of time and ultimately had to be taken off the field via cart.
ESPN declined to show a replay of the injury after a commercial break, but color commentator Brian Griese opined that it looked like a dislocated ankle, and speculated that Franks’s season could be over.
Franks had been Florida’s starting quarterback for the lion’s share of the last three years, and was the starter for the entirety of 2018 and 2019, mixing brilliant and bone-headed play in a way that made him a deeply polarizing figure in Gator Nation. To wit: Franks threw two damaging interceptions in Florida’s Week Zero win over Miami, but just one week ago, he established a new program record for completion percentage by completing 25 of his 27 attempts against Tennessee-Martin.
Franks was replaced by redshirt junior Kyle Trask — who led Florida to a touchdown on his first drive of the game, and later ran for the game-winning touchdown as the Gators rolled off 19 unanswered points to shock the Wildcats.