Florida star WR Vernell Brown III gets change in injury status on eve of Georgia battle
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Florida could use some reinforcements on Saturday afternoon in Atlanta when it faces No. 3 Georgia on a neutral field.
The 17th-ranked Gators, who are going with Aaron Philo at quarterback, according to a report earlier Friday by ESPN insider Pete Thamel, would love to have star wideout Vernell Brown III back in the fold for the first time since late September.
The sophomore piled up 17 catches for 271 yards and 2 touchdowns in 4 games during the month of September. But that was just an early tease, as it turned out, because Brown hasn’t played since Week 4, so Florida has been missing a big piece of its passing game for the past month.
There appeared to be a lot of hope earlier this week for Brown to return on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC) against Georgia. But that hope was replaced by concern on Friday night when the SEC released its availability report and Brown was downgraded to questionable to play against the Bulldogs because of a lingering knee injury.
Fellow Florida wideout Bailey Stockton was also listed as questionable on Friday night after being listed as doubtful earlier this week, so that situation was trending in the good direction while Brown’s situation got worse on the eve of the crucial Week 9 matchup.
Stockton has caught 27 passes for 289 yards and 2 touchdowns in 2026 while playing in all 7 of Florida’s games, so his potential absence on Saturday would be another big blow to the UF passing attack, especially if Brown can’t make it back on the field yet again.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
