Billy Napier has to feel like the college football gods finally tossed him a lifeline. Florida’s camp injuries have been a talking point all summer. DJ Lagway’s body has been acting like a crash-test dummy, and now DL Caleb Banks is hobbling around in a boot. Yet as Week 1 closes in, the Gators somehow avoided disaster. Meanwhile, SEC rivals are limping toward kickoff. For a coach walking into a make-or-break season, that’s close to divine intervention.
While Gator Nation sweats every limp and strain, David Waters of Gators Breakdown is pointing out the silver lining in his August 17 episode. After the final fall scrimmage, he laid it out plain. “There were no injuries as far as this scrimmage goes,” he said. “So that’s the most important part that we will take away from this final scrimmage for the Gators for the 2025 fall camp. That there were no more injuries to add to the list.” For a roster already walking the thin line between potential and panic, that was the news Billy Napier needed to exhale.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Florida came through camp without scars. Caleb Banks, who had 4.5 sacks last season and earned SEC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week against Ole Miss, was spotted in a boot and is considered day-to-day. Star freshman edge LJ McCray is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. David Waters noted, “We’ve avoided, knock on wood, the major injury so far at Florida, and we’ll see where it goes.” For Billy Napier and Co., that’s enough to keep the optimism alive.
Then there’s the QB question. DJ Lagway, the 5-star face of Billy Napier’s future, already has the Mr. Glass jokes circulating. Shoulder, hamstring, core, and then calf. The sophomore QB himself pushed back, saying at SEC Media Days, “I’m not an injury-prone guy.” But words only go so far when your medical chart looks like a CVS receipt.
ESPN’s Chris Low summed it up bluntly. His development has been stalled by injuries, raising the “lingering question” about whether he can stay healthy. Florida fans saw flashes of why DJ Lagway was the No. 1 QB in his class, but until he can string together practices, let alone Saturdays, the Gators’ offense remains more of a concept than a certainty. But here’s where Billy Napier gets another breather. He’s not the only one.
Billy Napier and the SEC injury roulette
“It’s not just a Florida thing. Injuries are happening everywhere,” David Waters said. And some teams have it worse than Billy Napier’s squad. Alabama just lost its leading rusher, Jam Miller, for at least a month. Georgia’s got linemen and backs in boots. Tennessee already ruled out a freshman defensive back and is sweating over Mike Matthews. Even Oklahoma took a gut punch, losing wideout Jayden Gibson for the season.
Team
Player Name
Position
Injury Details
Status
Alabama
Jam Miller
RB
Upper body (suffered in second scrimmage)
Out (First month of the season)
Arkansas
Cam Ball
DT
Elbow (surgery recovery, braced in camp)
Questionable (missed spring, limited)
Florida
DJ Lagway
QB
Calf strain (precautionary, returned to practice on August 2)
Day-to-day (expected Week 1)
Florida
Caleb Banks
DL
Undisclosed (mounting injuries theme)
Questionable
Florida
LJ McCray
Edge
Lower body (sidelined in camp)
Questionable (not season-ending)
Florida
Dallas Wilson
WR
Undisclosed (sidelined in camp)
Questionable
Georgia
Tate Ratledge
OL
Ankle
Questionable for Week 1
Georgia
Roderick Robinson
RB
Undisclosed (injured entering camp)
Questionable (likely to miss Week 1)
Georgia
Daniel Calhoun
OL
Undisclosed (injured entering camp)
Questionable
Georgia
Christen Miller
DL
Undisclosed (injured entering camp)
Questionable
Oklahoma
Jayden Gibson
WR
Knee (significant, fall camp)
Out for season
Tennessee
Mike Matthews
WR
Knee (issues in camp)
Questionable
Tennessee
Jermod McCoy
DB
Hamstring (prep injury)
Out likely for Week 1
Texas
Andre Cojoe
OL
Knee (torn ACL, fall camp)
Out for season
The unlisted teams reported no injuries.
Still, timing is everything. Waters put it best, saying, “Maybe it is a blessing in disguise now that we have Long Island, that we have USF and not Utah, not Miami to kick this season off.” Florida’s September schedule isn’t murderers’ Row. It’s a ramp-up. That matters. By the time LSU comes calling, the expectation is that DJ Lagway’s calf is healed, Caleb Banks is back in rotation, and LJ McCray is terrorizing QBs again. For Billy Napier, it’s less about style points in Week 1 and more about arriving healthy for the heavyweight fights ahead.
So Billy Napier breathes a sigh of relief. But if DJ Lagway goes down again, or if the injury bug bites deeper in SEC play, that sigh might turn into the sound of the Swamp growing restless.
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