Report: 4 key Florida players not present at Gators' first fall practice

The Florida Gators, along with the rest of the SEC teams, opened their fall practice season on Monday. The regular season is set to begin on Sept. 26.

However, the Gators were reportedly without 4 players who were expected to be big contributors to this year’s squad.

Per Florida reporter Edgar Thompson, WRs Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes and Jacob Copeland, as well as DE Zachary Carter, were absent from the practice.

#Gators open preseason practices Monday minus top WRs Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes & Jacob Copeland, along with DE Zachary Carter, per source. 1st reported by @zach_goodall. Another challenge for Dan Mullen to navigate against backdrop of a pandemic: https://t.co/tqqOo38qMs pic.twitter.com/2pfyxki2eV

— Edgar Thompson (@osgators) August 17, 2020

This doesn’t mean the players have opted out amid COVID-19 concerns, but the 3 receivers have at least discussed the idea of opting out publicly through Twitter. Again, no final decision from those players has been reported yet.

If those players don’t play in 2020, that will especially hurt the Gators’ receiving corps. Rick Wells would be the leading returning receiver in that case, with his 2 catches for 27 yards last year:

If Grimes, Toney, and Copeland end up opting-out, Rick Wells would be the leading WR returning with two catches for 27 yards. Of course, there is Pitts at TE with 54 catches, 649 yards, and 5 TDs, but as far as pure WR, there would hardly be any returning production.

— David Waters – Gators Breakdown (@GatorDave_SEC) August 17, 2020

This is a developing story and we’ll see what happens moving forward and if coach Dan Mullen addresses it.