Florida’s quarterback situation got worse Wednesday. Aaron Philo will be listed as questionable for the trip to No. 7 Texas, and backup Tramell Jones Jr. has been taking first-team reps this week.
“Florida quarterback Aaron Philo will be listed as questionable on the SEC availability report tonight, per ESPN sources,” ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported.
Philo hurt his shoulder in Florida’s homecoming loss to South Carolina and has been limited in practice since. He did throw at practice Wednesday, according to multiple sources, which is the one encouraging line in the whole report.
Philo’s availability decides this game
Philo has been efficient in a way his team has not. He has thrown for 1,341 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions on 70.47% passing, and he has added 104 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns with one lost fumble. Four interceptions-plus-fumbles across six games is careful quarterbacking.
That matters more than usual here. Florida is 4-2 and has lost two straight, to Missouri and then South Carolina, which means the room for a sloppy afternoon is gone. A quarterback who protects the ball is the single best asset you can take on the road against a top-10 team.
If Jones plays, it is his first career start, and it comes in Austin. There is not a harder first assignment available anywhere on Florida’s schedule.
What Florida should do about it
Start Philo only if he can throw without protecting the shoulder. A passer who cannot drive the ball outside the numbers against that defense will hold it too long and take hits he does not need to take, and Florida still has most of an SEC schedule in front of it.
The practice reps tell you how the staff is thinking. Teams do not give a backup first-team work in the middle of a game week as an exercise. They do it because they are preparing to play him, and they would rather he not be surprised on Saturday.
Philo throwing Wednesday keeps the door open, and a questionable tag on an availability report usually means the call gets made late in the week. Florida’s staff has every reason to use all of the time available on this one.
There is a version of this where the injury is minor and Philo takes the field Saturday without anyone noticing a difference. There is also a version where he starts, cannot turn the shoulder loose, and Florida burns a quarter finding that out. The second one is the risk worth avoiding, and it is the reason Jones has been getting the reps.
One other note from the report: wide receiver Eugene Brown could also play, per ESPN sources. If Jones does start, having another receiver who can win a matchup on the outside matters more than it would with a settled quarterback taking the snaps.
Florida sits two losses and one shoulder injury away from where it expected to be in the middle of October. The honest read is that if Philo cannot go, this becomes a survival trip, and the goal shifts to getting out of Texas with a healthy quarterback for the rest of the year.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.