Chris Rainey could see a lot of touches out of the backfield Saturday against Georgia, but he needs earn playing time first.
With Jeff Demps, Mike Gillislee and Emmanuel Moody all recovering from injuries, Florida offensive coordinator Steve Addazio said Rainey, who was suspended from the team following his arrest for aggravated stalking, could take some carries against the Bulldogs.
Rainey was a running back for his first two seasons at UF before moving to receiver this year.
“Certainly the possibility exists for (Rainey to play running back) because of injuries,” Addazio said. “Chris is a guy that’s a very talented guy, that’s versatile, can do a lot of things. Of course, he’s still in the process right now. He’s still following his course of events to be cleared to play. So that’s still in the process, but he does give you some versatility, for sure, assuming he’s ready to go.”
Rainey returned to the practice facilities Oct. 10 but was not available to play in the loss to Mississippi State.
Omarius Hines, who had been used at wide receiver and tight end, carried the ball six times against MSU due to Florida’s banged-up backfield.
Rainey has rushed 178 times for 1,253 yards (7.04 yards per carry) in his career, but Addazio doesn’t want to assume he can effortlessly return to the backfield. Rainey needs more work this week if he wants to be effective come Saturday.
“He’s getting reps in practice and obviously getting even more because some guys are dinged up a little bit, and you just hope that everything works out right,” Addazio said.
Execution problems: The buzz word around the Gators’ offensive players and coaches is execution.
The team believes the right plays and players are on the field to win games, but the occasional missed assignment has led to struggles.
Addazio said the team is giving everything it has during practice and in games but is still coming up short.
“There’s a difference between effort and execution,” Addazio said. “We have great effort right now. We want to get better in execution.”
In order to execute well frequently, Addazio said every player needs to do his job on every play. If one person misses a block, runs the wrong route or doesn’t take care of the ball, it hurts the entire unit.
“If one player messes up, that kind of messes up everything,” senior wide receiver Carl Moore said. “So right now we’re just trying to work on practicing, making sure everyone is doing everything right at the same time.”
