Mike Norvell Provides Injury Updates On A Pair Of Florida State's Starting Wide Receivers
The regular season has progressed past the halfway mark with No. 4 Florida State holding on to a 7-0 record. To this point of the year, the Seminoles have mostly dodged the injury bug outside of a couple of players being forced to miss multiple games.
READ MORE: Florida State Loses Star Wide Receiver During Third Quarter Against Duke Blue Devils
Entering the final stretch ahead of the postseason, Florida State is working on getting a trio of starters back to full strength. Head coach Mike Norvell and offensive coordinator Alex Atkins spoke on the health of wide receiver Johnny Wilson, wide receiver Destyn Hill, and offensive tackle Robert Scott on Monday.
Wilson returned to action against Duke after previously being injured in the win over Virginia Tech. However, he went down again during the third quarter and seemed woozy while trying to rise to his feet. After being evaluated in the injury tent, Wilson eventually walked to the locker room with trainers flanking him. He finished with five catches for 58 yards prior to the injury.
The team was without fellow starting wide receiver Destyn Hill in the victory after he was injured the prior week. Hill was spotted with a boot on his foot late in the win over Syracuse and supported his teammates from the sidelines on Saturday night.
"We'll see where it is. I can tell you, Johnny was in a really good place yesterday coming out of the game," Norvell said on Monday morning. "Destyn got more work yesterday in practice than what he did in the previous week so excited to see kind of where those guys go as the week progresses but it does open up new opportunities.
"I'm excited about what that group is and hopefully we have Destyn and Johnny rolling here this week because it keeps us at full strength," Norvell continued. "But if not, there's new opportunities for other guys and we've got a talented group."
Florida State got left tackle Robert Scott back into the lineup a couple of weeks ago. His availability has been sporadic since his return (27 snaps against Virginia Tech, 49 against Syracuse), and that continued against the Blue Devils when Scott was limited to nine total snaps.
Offensive coordinator Alex Atkins went into detail about Scott's status and the constantly evolving rotation up-front.
"I limited Rob a little bit more than normal," Atkins said. "I think I only got him one or two drives on there. Still letting him heal up."
Florida State relied on all eight of its top offensive linemen to contribute to the win over Duke. The unit has adjusted week-by-week depending on who is available.
Scott missed three games early in the season after re-aggravating an injury in the season-opening victory against LSU. Redshirt senior Bless Harris was out against Virginia Tech and limited against Syracuse but seems to be trending back in the right direction after taking 32 snaps on Saturday.
Outside of that, redshirt junior center Maurice Smith has fought through injuries after missing a pair of contests in September. Redshirt junior Darius Washington pitched in at center and left tackle prior to dealing with an injury of his own during the course of the victory over Syracuse. He was spotted with a brace on his knee but made enough progress to play 45 snaps against Duke, including finishing the game protecting Jordan Travis' blindside.
Florida State returns to action on Saturday in a conference matchup against Wake Forest at 12:00 p.m. on ABC.
READ MORE: Recruits React To Florida State's Comeback Victory In Top-25 Matchup Against Duke
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