Florida’s offense took another hit Saturday in Atlanta, and Jon Sumrall made it clear the situation with Vernell Brown III is more complicated than the outside noise suggests.
Brown, who had been expected by many to return against No. 3 Georgia after missing time with a knee injury, was instead ruled out before Florida’s 27-8 loss. That left plenty of Gators fans wondering why the wideout went from probable on Wednesday to unavailable by game day, especially after the program had previously treated the injury as “nothing serious” following Brown’s September MRI.
Sumrall said the setback started in Wednesday’s practice, when Brown aggravated the knee on a cut during a two-minute drill. At first, neither the coach nor the receiver believed it would keep him out against Georgia. Brown even told the staff after treatment that he felt better.
“That's a good question ... I knew it was going to come,” Sumrall admitted when asked about Brown's absence.
The picture changed Thursday morning, when Brown woke up with swelling in the knee. Florida worked to reduce it, but he never got back to where he had been earlier in the week.
“So Monday, Tuesday, he looked like old VB3, like the guy that we saw the first three or four weeks, three and a half weeks of the year," said Sumrall. "Wednesday, the second half of Wednesday's practice, he had one movement on a cut in a two-minute drill period that we do every Wednesday, that had a little bit of what, at the time, we thought was just a little bit of a setback. And so we pulled him just from some reps the rest of that practice on Wednesday.
"But after he went to the training room that day, he said, 'Hey, I felt really good. I feel better.'
And then the next day when he woke up, it was a little bit swollen on him. You know, got the swelling down.
But as he tried to come back, we - so we listed him probable on Wednesday, because Wednesday when he left the training room, he was like, 'I feel pretty good. I feel like I'm gonna be able to give it a go.'
And then sometimes you sleep on things like that. Woke up Thursday morning and had some swelling in it, and got the swelling calmed down, but just wasn't able to get back to where he was earlier in the week.
It's really frustrating. He hates it.
He's frustrated. I'm frustrated for him."
Even with four games missed, Brown still ranks third on the team with 17 catches for 271 yards. His two touchdowns are tied for second on the roster, and he has also made a major impact as a returner, averaging 34.6 yards per punt return and taking two back for touchdowns.
Sumrall said the absence hurt Florida in more ways than one, especially with the offense sputtering against Georgia and not reaching the red zone until late in the third quarter.
He also pushed back on social media speculation that Brown is simply choosing not to play, saying the issue is about recovery, not effort. Sumrall stressed that wanting Brown on the field does not change the reality of the injury.
“We've played five snaps of football all year with No. 1 [Brown], No.
2 [ Eric Singleton Jr.], and No. 6 [ Dallas Wilson ] on the field at the same time, because E got hurt the seventh play of the first game.
And we miss those three guys being on the field all at the same time. Bailey Stockton has stepped up and played good when he's been available.
But VB's still, man, I hate it for him. It's bothering him, and we clearly need him back,” Sumrall said.
“But it, you know - when he's injured and that happens, I don't know what else to do. And so it's a frustrating deal for him and for everybody in our program because he's trying like hell to get back.”
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