It was a day of a few missing in action, one guy who won't seem to go away (Ronnie Wilson...oh, excuse me, it's Ron now), one inaccurate quarterback (not Tim Tebow) and then typical Gators -- a bunch of fast receivers and running backs looking great in 7-on-7 drills.
It's a little eerie that UF's two weakest positions -- safety and defensive tackle -- took hits on the first day. Yes, sophomore DT Torrey Davis is dealing with academic issues and wasn't on the roster. Neither was safety Bryan Thomas, who has a much more pleasant, if not more painful, situation than Davis. Thomas is getting a cyst removed from his knee and should return in a couple of weeks.
But the looming presence of the day goes to Ron Wilson (sort of like Pacman going by Adam now), who could actually solve UF's problems at DT. Besides, what offensive lineman is going to lay a hand on Wilson after his AK-47 rep. Urban Meyer is being pretty generous with this guy after he pled no contest to battery and discharging a firearm last year AND copped a possession of marijuana charge in January that was dropped, according to UF. "He's not back, still evaluating him,"
Meyer said. He might also be evaluating the fact the 300-pound Wilson could come in handy next year on that line. Wilson, who wasn't available in the early session, said he's thankful for the opportunity to come back and "blessed"
to be here via UF statement.
In other updates and impressions:
--Percy Harvin still looks fast and, at most times during 7-on-7 drills, 100 percent on that nagging right heel. And by the way, the guy is now yoked. Completely huge biceps, definitely rivaling, or even surpassing, similar hybrid weapon Reggie Bush in that regard.
Harvin did limp mildly toward the end of practice, when he got in the most work. Meyer kept him out of parts of Monday’s workout but allowed him to participate in some 7-on-7 drills. “He came out today, opened it up a little bit,”
Meyer said. “My biggest concern isn’t the heel, it’s some other part of his body reacting.”
--Backup quarterback Cam Newton was waaay low on a 5-yard pass to Mon Williams. That won't intimidate John Brantley much.
-- Instead of an off-field suspension for his recent open-container citation, Maurkice Pouncey had to deal with on-field disciplinary action Monday. “They got me running after practice,”
Pouncey said. “I’ll go as long as they want it to be.”
Pouncey had an open container of Natural Lite in a 2006 silver Chevy sedan that was pulled over on July 20 for driving without a tag, according to Alachua County records. Pouncey paid the $94 citation three days later, and the case was closed.
--Running back Kestahn Moore left practice early, though he looked fine. Meyer said, among others, that running back Emmanuel Moody and freshman DT Omar Hunter looked great in the first day of workouts.
