APAs Florida heads into a bye weekend ahead of a showdown with No. 3 LSU in The Swamp, the No. 11 Gators could be on the verge of regaining a key piece of its defensive puzzle.
Head coach Will Muschamp said Wednesday that he’s feeling “pretty optimistic” that Jelani Jenkins will be back on the field for the game against the Tigers. The linebacker hasn’t played since breaking his thumb in the first quarter of a Sept. 8 win over Texas A&M.
Jenkins will visit with a specialist on Friday, who will then give a thumbs up or down, so to speak, for the player’s availability in the key SEC matchup. Muschamp said that, in essence, Jenkins’ status will come down to his threshold for pain.
“If he were to play, it would be in a cast, and again that goes back to pain level and comfort level of playing with the cast,” the coach said. “There will be some sort of covering if he’s able to play. And right now we feel like he should be able to go. But again you never know until the guy looks at it. So I don’t want to sit there and say he’s going right now. I’m not ready to say that.”
Jenkins started the first two games this season after starting a total of 23 the previous two seasons.
Yay for us!
I’m guessing my “southernpatriots” friends are actually rooting for him to be able to play too. They’ve always stated they want to play the opponent when they’re at full strength, and then just let the best team win. Jenkins is a beast. Hope he can play. We certainly need him, especially against LSU.
Good for Jelani Jenkins. I’m truly glad for him and hope he fully recovers.
…BUT, I’d be lying if I said I was glad we were playing an opponent when they’re at full strength, especially when we aren’t.
Good luck the rest of the season, Gators, and I hope we can meet again in the ATL in December!
forever lsu, class act you are