Gators Fall Camp 2023: Day 14 Notebook, Focus on Centers Following Injury

All Gators kept an eye on Florida's offensive line position on day four of fall camp following projected starter Kingsley Eguakun's recent practice injury.
Gators Fall Camp 2023: Day 14 Notebook, Focus on Centers Following Injury
Gators Fall Camp 2023: Day 14 Notebook, Focus on Centers Following Injury /
In this story:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Inside the Indoor Practice Facility, the Gators took the field for their penultimate practice of the fall camp regimen on Thursday.

The participation report remained clean, for the most part, after an upward trend in the health department in recent days. However, center Kingsley Eguakun exited the lineup after suffering a lower-body injury during practice on Wednesday. All Gators reported his "day-to-day" status prior to Thursday's session.

As a result, we took a close look at the offensive line. 

Find All Gators' notebook from Thursday's media viewing window of the practice, as well as our observations and highlights from previous fall practices, below. 

Gators Fall Camp 2023: Notes and Observations

  • Center Kingsley Eguakun was notably absent from day 14 of the Gators' practice on Thursday.
  • Quarterback Jack Miller III was also not observed during the media viewing window for the first time this fall. He'd recently been working off to the side as he nurses an undisclosed injury. 
  • Tight end Dante Zanders (lower body) remained absent. Napier estimated on Friday that Zanders would be out for "10 days or so."
  • Linebacker Shemar James participated in a black no-contact jersey for the second straight day, working through individual drills with his position group as he works back to full form after suffering a knee injury earlier in camp.
  • Sophomore wide receiver Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman (unknown) joined redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Kamryn Waites (Achilles) and walk-on freshman defensive tackle Andre Morris (undisclosed) continued to perform rehabilitative drills to the side of the practice field.
  • Offensive lineman Caden Jones was viewed on crutches in the weight room area.
  • Considering Eguakun's injury, All Gators observed Florida's center group during Thursday's media viewing period. As expected, redshirt sophomore Jake Slaughter and freshmen Roderick Kearney stepped up in place of Eguakun during individual drills.
  • Freshman guard Knijeah Harris was also observed snapping the ball, although he did so less frequently than Slaughter and Kearney.
  • Each of the centers practiced snapping the ball and exploding into run blocks in tandem with a guard during the viewing period. Both Slaughter and Kearney drew praise from offensive line coach Rob Sale for individual reps performed in the setting. 

Notebooks From Previous Gators Fall Practices

Day 1: Notes and Photo Gallery 

Day 2: Notes and Quarterback Video

Day 3: Notes and Observations

Day 4: Notes and Inside Linebacker Focus

Day 5: Notes, Takeaways and Highlights From Open Practice

Day 6: Practice closed to media

Day 7: Notes and Observations

Day 8: Participation Report Skake-Up

Day 9: Notes and Observations Ahead of Scrimmage No. 1

Day 10: Practice closed to media

Day 11: Participation Report Upgrades

Day 12: Notebook Veteran Makes Second Position Change

Day 13: Notebook — Shemar James Returns 


Stay tuned to All Gators for continuous coverage of Florida Gators football, basketball and recruiting. Follow along on social media at @AllGatorsOnFN on Twitter and All Gators on FanNation-Sports Illustrated on Facebook.

Get your Gators football, basketball, baseball and other sporting events tickets from SI Tickets here


Published