Jon Sumrall and the Gators held their first fall scrimmage of 2026 on Saturday.
While the coach was procedurally displeased, he said the scrimmage went well overall as the team preps for a Sept. 5 opener against Florida Atlantic. The biggest areas of improvement Sumrall identified following the scrimmage were procedural issues and space tackling.
The Gators had three delay-of-game penalties and saw two offsides calls tacked on at the hands of a receiver, proving to Sumrall the team needs to improve its efficiency on offense.
“The two procedure penalties on receivers should never happen,” Sumrall said.
He also said the defense’s tackling “was decent for a first scrimmage,” but a couple defensive backs were lackluster in their tackling efforts.
The Gators ran 127 total plays, according to Sumrall, with the first group receiving 50, the second group seeing 43 and the third group playing 34.
Now less than three weeks from its season opener, Florida is prepping for game week. Sumrall said the team will scrimmage again at 7:45 p.m. on Saturday – to mirror the FAU game’s start time – and will immediately move into game-week procedure to ensure the team is prepared when Sept. 5 arrives. Next week, the Gators will do a run-through on Monday, hold a full-gear practice on Tuesday, work on shells Wednesday, do a walk-through on Thursday and hold a run-through again on Friday before playing a mock game on Saturday.
“It’s important to me that they understand the flow of the week and how you prepare and ramp up for the game,” Sumrall said, “I’m not comfortable game one going ‘alright, it’s game week, now here’s what we do.’ I want them a week ahead.”
In addition, a few notable players were either held from or limited in action on Saturday out of an abundance of caution for injuries. On Monday, Sumrall identified a slew of players who are on the mend from recent injuries.
Among them, sophomore receiver Vernell Brown III stood out. Brown missed the scrimmage out of an abundance of caution with a bruised foot he suffered on Thursday, Sumrall said. Though he missed Friday and Saturday, Brown was back in action during Monday’s practice.
Junior running back Jadan Baugh and redshirt freshman receiver Dallas Wilson also played on a pitchcount, working until the scrimmage’s break before spending time conditioning in the stadium’s south end zone while the Gators continued scrimmaging.
Other injured players Sumrall mentioned included senior defensive lineman Kamran James, redshirt junior wide receiver Jaylen Lloyd, redshirt freshman running back Duke Clark, freshman defensive lineman Kendall Guervil, redshirt sophomore kicker Patrick Durkin, redshirt junior defensive back Dijon Johnson and redshirt senior defensive backs Javion Toombs and Jordy Lowery.
James took team reps in Monday’s practice, while Toombs got some individual and special teams work. Though James didn’t take a full capacity of team reps and Toombs didn’t get any 11-on-11 work, Sumrall has been adamant about not pushing his players too hard to fight through injuries during camp. For example, Clark took individual reps today and "probably could have done team,” according to Sumrall, but the coach kept him limited out of an abundance of caution. Durkin also didn’t kick in the scrimmage but returned to practice Monday. Finally, Guervil is going to have a shot to return, Sumrall said, but he and his staff have to be thorough in making sure his body is healed and fit to play.
Lowery was Florida’s sole player injured during Saturday’s scrimmage. Sumrall said the defensive back suffered a soft-tissue injury after about 12 or 13 plays that will keep him out of action for now.
“Really frustrating because honestly, his arrow was up off of training camp in the spring,” Sumrall said. “He’s been a pleasant surprise, so disappointed for him. It’s not going to be a terribly long-term deal, but a soft-tissue deal that we’ll just have to see how he responds.”
On the plus side for the defensive backs room, Johnson was “full go” in practice today. Sumrall said, “he’s in a good spot” mentally as UF ramps up his return process, and he is expected to participate in the Gators’ next scrimmage.
With many injured players on the mend and Florida’s needed sense of urgency heading into the final weeks of fall camp, Sumrall spoke yet again about the need for consistency on the offensive front.
He said certain offensive linemen have been elevating, but they need to find consistency in being detailed with assignments and fundamental technique.
Among the linemen, Sumrall said redshirt sophomore Eagan Boyer has taken steps forward and sophomore Emeka Ugorji has flashed at times, while redshirt junior Bryce Lovett is “unbelievably talented” but needs to stay consistent and “keep it going all the time.” In addition, Sumrall tagged redshirt freshman TJ Dice Jr. as an improved player, and redshirt junior Caden Jones as someone UF has been challenging to step up and play like a veteran every day.
Though a handful of linemen have flashed, Sumrall said he’s been much more comfortable with the play he’s seen from the interior. With the clock ticking down to Florida’s season opener, offensive tackle remains one of the Gators’ biggest question marks.
“We’ve got to figure out who we are,” Sumrall said. “I’m still not completely sure yet. I mean, I have some ideas, but until you go and do it against somebody else wearing a different colored jersey, you don’t ever really know.”
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @CuranAhern.
Curan is a senior sports journalism student in his fifth semester at The Alligator. He is currently the sports editor, and previously served as a reporter for men's tennis, sports enterprise and football. He is currently pursuing a public relations minor and is an avid Duval sports fan. (#DTWD)
