Fullback Hunter Joyer (hamstring) returned to practice on Monday, offensive coordinator Brent Pease confirmed Tuesday. Joyer had been sidelined for more than two weeks.
“He’s done a good job rehabbing, and he’s going to be all right,” Pease said. “He looked fine physically. I think we’ve kept his reps down to a minimum.”
Joyer will again play a key role in Florida’s offense in 2013.
UF ranked third in the Southeastern Conference in 2012 with 187.7 rushing yards per game as Joyer paved the way in the backfield.
Pease said Tuesday that the Gators would again rely on the running game to move the football in 2013.
“We know our identity,” Pease said. “We’re going to be more heavier oriented on the run.”
Keeping Joyer healthy is critical to Florida’s ground attack. The Gators lost leading rusher Mike Gillislee to graduation, and a viral infection has sidelined new starter Matt Jones since July.
Backup fullback Gideon Ajagbe is a converted linebacker who did not appear in a single game during the 2012 campaign.
“You’ve got to kind of watch those guys because they take a lot of hits, especially with what they do,” Pease said of Florida’s fullbacks. “Eventually, it is a wear-down situation. We kind of monitor that on all the kids at that position. We protect them a little bit at this stage because we know what [Joyer] is going to do. He’ll be there and be ready.”
QB&A: The next time Warner Bros. Studios decides to cast The Riddler in a Batman movie, producers should just drop by one of Florida’s quarterback meetings.
In order to keep his signal callers sharp, Pease engages Jeff Driskel and Co. in a series of mental games and competition.
“We have a little thing in camp when we have a contest every day,” Pease said.
“It’s not just revolved around football at times. Some of it revolves around football, but there’s always little quizzes on everything. Everything is a challenge.
“We make a game out of it. We had a competition and points that involves academics, involves riddles, involves a performance that they have to do. It involves football, a lot of football knowledge that they need to repeat.”
But Pease is not running the show. The quarterbacks challenge each other.
“It’s up to them,” Pease said. “They make them up. They bring the riddles in and challenge each one of us. If it gets solved, they don’t get any points for it. If it doesn’t get solved, they get points for it. Everybody grades each other.”
Although the back-and-forth riddles serve an important purpose, recent results have not had an effect on the Gators’ depth chart.
“Jeff didn’t stump us,” Pease said. “I think [Tyler Murphy] had a good one. I think Skyler (Mornhinweg) had a good one.”
Number Change: Former defensive back Valdez Showers is changing sides of the ball but not his number.
Backup quarterback Tyler Murphy, who wore No. 10 during his first three years at Florida, will switch to No. 3 for his redshirt junior season.
Now that both play offensive positions, Murphy and Showers cannot share the same number.
Showers will continue to don No. 10 in honor of his grandmother’s birthday on Oct. 10.
She passed away in July 2010 prior to Showers’ senior year of high school in Madison Heights, Mich.
“I came up to him and asked him,” Showers said of switching numbers with Murphy.
“He knew why I wore the number. He told me it meant more to me, so he let me get it.”
Follow Joe Morgan on Twitter @joe_morgan.
Valdez Showers battles a Bowling Green defender in Florida’s 27-14 win on Sept. 1. Showers moved from safety to tailback during the offseason.
