Florida State is heading into the final stretch of fall camp with a better health report than it might have expected, and Mike Norvell said several key players are trending the right way as Week 0 approaches.
The biggest setback remains Karson Hobbs, whom Norvell made sure to address first. The coach said the cornerback’s ACL injury is a major loss for the Seminoles and made it clear he had big expectations for him before the setback.
"Losing Karson Hobbs was a big hit for us," Norvell said. "I was really excited about what I was expecting from him this year."
There was better news at cornerback with Nehemiah Chandler, who was limited for part of the week but is now back to full practice.
"Nehemiah has been somebody that's definitely gonna help this football team this year," Norvell said. "He was a little limited here for the last week, and he's just back into full practice as of yesterday."
Running back Quintrevion Wisner has also returned after missing time and got back on the field this week.
"He was able to get back in practice here this week," Norvell said. "I feel confident about what that'll look like here this next week."
Two more names moved ahead of the timeline Norvell had initially expected. Linebacker Mikai Gbayor and receiver Jayvan Boggs were both thought to be possible game-week decisions for the opener, but the coach said they now appear to be fully ready and cleared to participate.
"I'll tell you before game week, Mikai Gbayor and Javan Boggs, those guys are getting back, I truly was anticipating that being a game week decision in week one," Norvell said. "But I think both of those guys have shown that they're going to be fully, fully ready to go.
They got cleared to be able to participate. It's been good seeing that push.
So getting two guys we expect to be major contributors for us, getting them back a couple weeks early is a great job by our athletic training staff and by those guys in their rehab."
André Otto, who had been limited recently, is also back.
"He's back," Norvell said of his status.
For now, Norvell said the overall picture looks solid as camp winds down, though he expects a few more updates to come before the weekend is over.
"As a whole, I feel good about where we are," Norvell said. "Still a couple of things that we'll see as we get in throughout the course of this weekend, but I feel good overall."
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