Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks will miss the rest of the season with a dislocated ankle, but Gators coach Dan Mullen sounds confident that the team can still win with backup signal caller Kyle Trask.

Mullen was complimentary of Trask during his Wednesday press conference, first citing character and mental toughness as his strengths. The coach also liked how despite not winning the starting job at Florida, he “stuck it out and continued to work” with the Gators until an opportunity arose. That chance appears to be now.

Trask competed with Franks last summer for the starting job. Mullen said Wednesday Trask had a great camp, and that even after Florida named Franks the starter, Trask was “always ready” even in blowout situations.

The Gators are expected to run a two-quarterback system with Trask probably playing a majority of the snaps but fellow backup signal caller Emory Jones receiving playing time as well. Jones arrived at Florida last year with Mullen and is fully acclimated to the college level after one year on the bench.

Florida will host Tennessee this Saturday. The Gators have won the last two matchups in the series.

Here’s what else Mullen said during his press conference Wednesday:

  • On Florida not getting many sacks against UK: We have a bunch of guys banged up and I think UK has an excellent OL.
  • On Florida’s OL: We have a lot of new faces on the OL that have not played before, we try to keep the starting OL in there… I think guys get comfortable playing next to each other with that group, the OL is usually one of the tighter groups on the team… how they communicate, how they block together… it’s valuable to have the same guys in there.
  • On Trask and Jones playing if Franks did not get hurt: Emory brings something different to the game, so we are always looking to get him in there… It would have been mostly Feleipe because he is our starter.
  • On Evan McPherson: He has been huge. He is a tremendous talent, he brings a maturity… there has not been a moment that was too big for him.
  • What impresses you about Tennessee? They are a talented group, they are young but they have talent. If you look at how the year has gone, they are a much better team than they get credit for. BYU beat them with a fluke play at the end of the game, a week later they beat USC… they have great skill players, an experienced QB, a lot of talent on defense… I think some of the criticism may not be as justified as people think… as they continue to grow, they could have a good year.