Ahead of its Saturday afternoon matchup against South Carolina (2-3, 0-3 SEC), No. 16 Florida (4-1, 2-1 SEC) has released its initial availability report on Wednesday night.
Vernell Brown III, who suffered a low-grade knee strain in UF's 52-28 win over Ole Miss on Sept. 26 and missed last Saturday's loss against Missouri, was listed as questionable.
Brown was originally listed as questionable last week but was then designated as doubtful ahead of the game. He did do on-field drills with Florida's director of football performance, Rusty Whitt, ahead of the game, but did not participate. The sophomore is the Gators' second-leading receiver with 17 catches for 271 yards and two receiving touchdowns. He also has two punt-return touchdowns.
On Monday, head coach Jon Sumrall had optimism that the dynamic wideout could return to the field as soon as Saturday.
“He is cleared to participate," Sumrall said. "At this point with him, it's up to just his level of confidence in being able to do it, but he's trending positively. What does that mean for Saturday? I don't know yet. But he has the ability to run, but he's just got to see how confident he is in cutting it loose.”
Meanwhile, safety Bryce Thornton, who was suddenly ruled out on Saturday due to a lower-body issue that flared up during pre-game warmups, was listed as probable.
“Yeah, optimism on getting [him] back," Sumrall said. "It's just more of how does he feel right now. I feel good about where it's at. It's not like something where I have news, like, ‘he's out.’ He’s got a really good shot at being available, just depends on how he feels as he goes in the week."
The senior has posted a 75.0 Pro Football Focus defensive grade, the highest mark among members of the UF secondary.
"He’s a high-level communicator," Sumrall said. "He's got the most experience back there and has a lot of confidence. And so I think you felt him not being out there with maybe how we were directing traffic, if you will, to get us set on the backend.”
Notably, wide receivers Eric Singleton Jr. and Bailey Stockton, both of whom were able to play against Missouri, are not listed on the availability report.
The only other Gators who appeared on the report were running back London Montgomery (questionable) and cornerback Dijon Johnson (probable).
"Nobody's 100 percent," Sumrall said.
For South Carolina, wide receiver Mazeo Bennett Jr. and offensive lineman Carter Miller are listed as questionable.
Meanwhile, defensive back Quay'sheed Scott, EDGE Julian Walker and defensive lineman Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy are doubtful; defensive back Jalewis Solomon, wideout Jayden Sellers, EDGE Kobby Sakyl-Prah and offensive lineman Josiah Thompson have been ruled out.
Further updates regarding these injuries are expected throughout the remainder of the week.
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @maxbernstein23.
Max Bernstein is a fourth-year sports and media journalism major and sports management minor. This Fall, he is a Sports Editor and a Florida Gators and Jacksonville Jaguars reporter at The Alligator. Now in his ninth semester with The Alligator, Max previously served in roles including Digital Managing Editor, Sports Editor, Assistant Sports Editor and Football Reporter. He has also made appearances on the Paul Finebaum Show. In the rare moments Max isn't working, he's usually with his girlfriend Reese, watching sports with his fraternity brothers or missing his family and his two cats.
