Florida football injury report: QB DJ Lagway practicing, questionable for Texas

Florida football freshman quarterback DJ Lagway has taken limited reps in practice this week and is listed as questionable on the SEC availability report for the Florida Gators game Saturday at No. 5 Texas (noon, ABC)

Lagway was carted off the field with a hamstring pull during the second quarter of UF’s 38-20 loss to Georgia on Saturday in Jacksonville.

“He’s trying,” Florida football coach Billy Napier said. “He’s a competitor. You think about him, he’s going back to his home state. He wants to try to find a pathway to make this work. Obviously, it’s touch and go.”

A native of Willis, Texas, Lagway earned Gatorade High School Player of the Year honors at UF, where he’s made an impact as a true freshman. The 6-foot-3, 239-pound Lagway took over as UF’s starting quarterback when Graham Mertz went down with a torn ACL on Oct. 13 at Tennessee and has passed for 1,071 yards on the season with six TDs to five interceptions.

If Lagway can’t go, Florida will turn to third-string quarterback Aidan Warner, who went 7-for-22 for 66 yards and an inteception in relief of Lagway against the Bulldogs.

“He’s gotten a little more comfortable,” Napier said of Warner. “He’s obviously taking a few more reps than he normally does.”

Also listed as questionable on the SEC availability report are running back Montrell Johnson Jr., who has been out since Oct. 13 with a leg injury, and cornerback Dijon Johnson, who left the game against Georgia in the third quarter with an undisclosed injury.

Starting cornerbacks Jason Marshall Jr. (shoulder) and Devin Moore (knee) both have been ruled out for the Texas game.

Florida football WR Eugene Wilson shelved for the rest of the season

Florida wide receiver Eugene Wilson will sit out the remainder of the 2024 season after undergoing surgery this week.

“It’s a genetic hip issue that got to a point to where we had to clean it up,” Napier said. “So, we exhausted all resources. You know, he’s been in and out of the lineup. Can take a few days off, feel like a million bucks then can go work really hard and have to sit back. I think we made the best decision in his long-term career.”

The 5-foot-10, 181-pound Wilson, who was expected to be a playmaking threat in UF’s offense this season, finished the year with 19 catches for 266 yards and a TD. By appearing in just four games, Wilson could take a redshirt in 2024 and return to UF as a redshirt sophomore with three more years of eligibility. Napier said the recovery time for the surgery is four months.

“They got to the root of the problem, and we sent him to Chicago probably 10 days ago to see the best hip doctor in the country,” Napier said. “Got done everything we could do to try to help him.”

Also, according to a report from Swamp 247Sports, running back Treyaun Webb underwent surgery to repair a fractured tibia and will miss the rest of the 2024 season. Like Wilson, Webb appeared in just four games and can take 2024 as a redshirt year.

Florida football availability report

Out

— CB Ja’Keem Jackson

— CB Jason Marshall Jr.

— CB Devin Moore

— WR Eugene Wilson III

— WR Kahleil Jackson

— RB Treyaun Webb

— QB Graham Mertz

— S Asa Turner

— OL Devon Manuel

— DL Jamari Lyons

Questionable

— QB DJ Lagway

— RB Montrell Johnson Jr.

— WR Elijhah Badger

— CB Dijon Johnson

— OL Dameion George Jr.

— DL Cam Jackson

Texas football availability report

Out

— DB Derek Williams Jr.

— RB CJ Baxter

— RB Christian Clark

— RB Velton Gardner

— DL Vernon Broughton (first half)

Questionable

— DB Andrew Makuba

— DE Colton Vasek

Probable

— WR Isaiah Bond

Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1