JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway will have more tests to determine how long he will be sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Lagway left Saturday’s 34-20 loss to No. 2 Georgia in the second quarter and returned to the sideline in the second half with his legged wrapped and using crutches. He is the second Florida quarterback to go down this season, joining starter Graham Mertz.
Replays showed Lagway grabbing his left hamstring during a 3-yard run. He was carted off the field to a loud ovation and with the Gators leading 10-3 in rivalry known as “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.”
“Every team in the country has injuries,” coach Billy Napier said. “One thing I can say is we built a roster that has some competitive depth and that’s proved to be beneficial.
“You play in this league, the level of competition, the explosive players, height, length, and speed of the game, physicality of this game, you’re always going to need depth.”
Mertz is out for the season with a torn ligament in his left knee, so the Gators had to turn to walk-on Aidan Warner against one of the best defenses in the Southeastern Conference.
Warner completed 7 of 22 passes for 66 yards, with an interception that set up a late touchdown. He also was sacked twice.
“It’s apparent that there were some challenges there, but the guy made some plays,” Napier said. “We literally tied it up. Didn’t turn it over until late. Threw it away when he needed to. Leaned on the defense.”
Lagway, a highly touted freshman from Texas, completed 2 of 6 passes for 47 yards, including a 43-yarder to Aidan Mizell for a touchdown. When he took over for Mertz, Napier talked about the need to protect him as much as possible.
But QB runs are an unavoidable part of Florida’s offense. The bigger question is how the Gators ended up with a walk-on playing meaningful snaps in a meaningful game.
Napier has lost eight scholarship QBs earlier than expected during his three years in Gainesville.
Emory Jones and Carlos Del Rio-Wilson transferred after Napier’s first spring in 2022. Anthony Richardson declared for the NFL draft after one up-and-down season. Backup Jalen Kitna was dismissed following his arrest on child pornography charges. Former Ohio State transfer Jack Miller struggled to stay healthy and moved on. Backup Max Brown transferred, too.
Napier withdrew a scholarship offer to four-star commitment Marcus Stokes after video emerged of him singing lyrics that contained a racial slur. And signee Jaden Rashada never made it to Gainesville after a name, image and likeness deal worth nearly $14 million fell through.
Rashada ended up at Arizona State for a year and then transferred to Georgia. He’s now suing Napier and a prominent booster over the NIL deal.
Colorado State transfer Clay Millen is the third scholarship QB on Florida’s roster, but Warner has been ahead of him on Napier’s depth chart.
“First of all, hats off to Aidan Warner,” Napier said. “We’re talking about a guy who didn’t go through spring practice. … Then two weeks ago started taking real reps with the second unit. So two weeks of work with the second unit. For him to be able to go operate today, obviously made some plays, made a handful of mistakes.”
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