Florida's Billy Napier Updates Shemar James, Kingsley Eguakun Injuries

Gators starters Shemar James and Kingsley Eguakun aggravated prior injuries during Florida's 43-20 loss to Georgia.

Photo: Florida linebacker Shemar James; Credit: Alex Shepherd

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Two Gators starters aggravated injuries during Florida's 43-20 defeat against No. 1 Georgia on Saturday, according to head coach Billy Napier. 

Sophomore linebacker Shemar James hurt his left knee during pre-game warmups and was observed sporting a brace on that leg throughout the matchup. He went down in the second half due to the injury and did not return to the game. 

"He did have a little incident pregame," Napier confirmed about James. "Certainly a little bit of a setback there late." 

James was sidelined with an injury to the same knee for two weeks during Florida's fall training camp. Per Napier, James originally wounded his left knee during his high school career. 

Napier indicated that the injury could impact James' availability moving forward and said that he would provide an update on the linebacker's status "in the middle of the week." 

"I do think it will be something we'll be evaluating, big picture-wise for him," Napier said. "It is a prior injury. It's an injury that he had before in high school that kind of came to life today a little bit."

James, who starts alongside redshirt sophomore Scooby Williams in the middle of Florida's defense, leads the team in total tackles this season with 55 through Week 9. He's also collected one sack and 5.5 tackles for loss. 

On the other side of the ball, Florida starting center Kingsley Eguakun re-aggravated an ankle sprain suffered during the team's fall training camp, forcing him to exit the game in the fourth quarter. 

Prior to Week 9, Eguakun had only been available to play in two games for Florida this season due to the hurt, against Tennessee in Week 3 and Kentucky in Week 5. He was held out against Charlotte in Week 4, and utilized Weeks 6-8 to nurse the injury before taking the field against Georgia. 

"Kingsley is okay," Napier said. "Same ankle, aggravated him a little bit there." 

Entering his redshirt junior campaign in 2023, Eguakun had started 26 consecutive games in the middle of Florida's offensive line.

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