Freshman Jeff Driskel has been the back-up QB all season and seems the most likely to start vs. No. 1 LSU on Saturday. (Photo by Gary W. Green, Orlando Sentinel)
What seemed all week to be a bit of gamesmanship on Florida’s part in not naming a starting quarterback might have had more to do with health than a QB competition.
Freshman Jeff Driskel sprained his ankle late in the game last week vs. Alabama, something coach Will Muschamp mentioned in passing on Monday. It seems that might have been more serious than Muschamp indicated.
Nate Gierke, Driskel’s high school coach at Hagerty, said Friday that Driskel had a lot of pain in the ankle on Sunday following the game and wore a protective boot that day as a precaution.
“He was hurting, and I’m sure, if he hasn’t been in the film room this week, he’s been in the training room,” Gierke said. “When you come to an ankle injury, especially when Jeff relies on his legs quite a bit, I’m sure he’s doing everything he can. He said he’s getting better every day with his ankle.”
Gierke said Driskel told him everything was going well in practice. At his regular media availability on Tuesday, offensive coordinator Charlie Weis declined to answer questions about whether the ankle injury was affecting Driskel in practice. He said Driskel practiced that day.
“I’m not going there. That’s not my territory,” he said. “I feel I’m overstepping my bounds when I address that subject. I should always follow protocol and I just don’t think that’s my place.”
Weis deferred to Muschamp, who updates the media on injuries. On the SEC teleconference on Wednesday, the last time Muschamp speaks to the media before game day, the coach gave no indication that injury might be an issue.
“Jeff’s got, obviously ahead because of the playing experience but we’re repping all three guys for the game and preparing all three of those guys and I feel very comfortable about our preparation to this point,” he said on Wednesday. “Obviously, today’s a big day. We work in the red zone and third down, so that’ll be critical for all three.”
Driskel was not wearing a protective boot late Thursday night.
“They want to make sure, again, that he’s healthy,” said Gierke. “Again, I’m not in there every day so I don’t really know how bad it is. He wants to make sure he’s ready, and he’s not going to use that as an excuse. But it is something he’s going to have to deal with.”
