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Jarrad Davis Injury Update: Florida LB’s X-Rays Negative
Jarrad Davis injury update, as the Florida Gators linebacker's x-rays on his left leg were negative. The injury is a big blow with the Georgia game two weeks away.
October 16, 2016
Jarrad Davis injury update, as the Florida Gators linebacker’s x-rays on his left leg were negative.
The Florida defense has been suffocating this season, as it ranks No. 3 in average yards allowed (252 per game) and No. 2 in scoring defense (12 points per game). But a key cog in the operation is now hobbled.
Jarrad Davis, the Gators’ star outside linebacker, left Florida’s 40-14 win against Missouri on Saturday with a left leg injury.
Head coach Jim McElwain provided an update on Davis’ injury after the game and clarified the linebacker’s leg was not broken.
“He’s getting an MRI on his lower leg right now. [We] haven’t had any results. You guys will know where we are there,” McElwain said. The X-rays, it’s not broken, whatever it is. But we’ll get that looked at, and he was in pretty good spirits they said headed up to get the MRI.”
Davis is tied for seventh in the SEC with 48 total tackles and is tied for ninth with two sacks on the season.
With his ability to stop the run and live in the backfield, Davis has been projected as a first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. There’s plenty of time for him to recover and keep his draft stock trending upward.
The real timing issue for Florida comes with the fact it will head to Jacksonville in two weeks to face the rival Georgia Bulldogs. The Gators have a bye week in Week 8, so Davis can spend some quality time resting up. But the matchup with Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs will be big — as it usually is.
With the win over Mizzou and Tennessee’s 49-10 loss to Alabama, Florida is in control of its own destiny once again. The Gators are 3-1 in conference play while the Vols are now 2-2.
A win against Georgia would add some momentum for Florida going into a Week 10 matchup on the road against Arkansas. The week after they play the Razorbacks, the Gators will host former head coach Will Muschamp’s South Carolina Gamecocks.
And with the LSU game rescheduled for Nov. 19 in Death Valley, the road to a second straight SEC East crown is not without its bumps.
Davis is easily one of the most important — if not the most important — members of the Florida defense. And without him, the Gators will need true freshman David Reese to fill the void.
Reese finished the game Saturday with six tackles, and he’s shown flashes of his run-stopping ability so far. But there’s zero doubt the defensive unit is much better when Davis is leading the attack.
