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Florida QB Luke Del Rio To Undergo Shoulder Surgery, Miss Spring Practice
Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio will have surgery on his left shoulder and miss all of the Gators’ spring practice.
January 19, 2017
Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio will have surgery on his left shoulder and miss all of the Gators’ spring practice.
Luke Del Rio will have to fight to stay the Florida Gator’s starter at quarterback in 2017, as redshirt freshmen Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask are expected to push him for the job under center.
Before that though, Del Rio will be having surgery on his left shoulder, his non-throwing arm, and miss all of spring practice.
Del Rio, who was injured twice during the 2016 season: first a knee injury in the third game of the season against North Texas that kept him out for the next two games, and then hurting his shoulder in the loss against Arkansas, resulting him in sitting out the final five games of the season.
When under center and healthy, Del Rio was moderately effective, throwing for 1,358 yards and eight touchdowns, but was also picked off eight times as the Gators’ struggles of finding a reliable quarterback continued.
Missing spring practice will allow Franks and Trask to get more snaps than head coach Jim McElwain and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier likely would have planned. It will also allow both to become more confident and familiar with the schemes and play calls. There was talk leading up to the Outback Bowl against Iowa that McElwain might pull Franks’ redshirt and play him, but backup Austin Appleby was the man under center as the Gators routed the Hawkeyes 30-3.
