GAINESVILLE
— Heading
toward a game in which No. 24 Florida will need as many quality
defensive backs as possible, cornerback Jeremy Brown is returning.
Gators
coach Will Muschamp said Brown will play Saturday at Texas A&M;
(3:30 p.m., ESPN), which will be his first game since Jan. 1, 2011.
He was out all of training camp and missed last week’s opener due
to a broken bone in his right wrist.
He
has been solid when healthy, but that has not been very often. He is
a red-shirt junior who has been at Florida since 2008, but played
only 11 games. The one year he was active, 2010, he was a full-time
starter at cornerback.
“It’s
a great story of hanging in there,” Gators defensive coordinator
Dan Quinn said.
“I
think physically he’s feeling pretty good. Now it’s more of just
getting back into the football technique, football shape. … Usually
when you get back into it you start improving pretty quickly.”
Brown
missed all of the 2008 and ’09 seasons with a back injury that was
severe enough to keep him in bed some days, then came back strong the
following year. He had five pass break-ups and three interceptions.
He
sprained his knee in training camp last August and never made it back
to the field. He looked ready to return healthy this year until
suffering the wrist injury during off-season workouts.
“He
looked really good (Tuesday) moving around,” Muschamp said.
Muschamp
expects Texas A&M; to use a pass-heavy offense with four- and
five-receiver formations, and will need as many reliable defensive
backs as he can find. When Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin was at Houston
last season, his team led the nation with 450.1 passing yards per
game.
