Florida cornerback Jaydon Hill suffered a torn ACL that will end his season. Hill sustained the injury over the weekend during the first few practices of fall camp.

"Very unfortunate when you’ve got to deal with injuries,' Dan Mullen said Thursday. "It’s really a tragedy with the amount of work that these guys put in, how hard they put in. Both of them were non-contact injuries. Just kind of a shame that stuff happens."

Hill was slated to be the starting cornerback across from Kaiir Elam when the season began on September 4 and just days before had talked about how he was prepared for the new challenge. Hill previously had ACL surgery during his senior season of high school. Hill arrived at Florida in 2019 while still rehabbing that injury but had been able to avoid the injury bug during his collegiate career up to this point.

Hill has appeared in 22 games in two seasons, making five starts. He's improved leaps and bounds during his time in Gainesville, something he spoke just last week about.

“When I got here, honestly, I couldn’t even draw up a play besides Cover 3. I knew one defense, Cover 3. But my game has progressed tremendously, my mindset off the field, in meeting rooms. I couldn’t even diagram an offense," Hill said. "Now I can draw up offensive plays, defensive plays and match them. But honestly, I even feel like my game has progressed – not just weight room and strength-wise with my ACL last year – but off the field, in meeting rooms, and being able to take my game from the meeting room and apply on the field. To think faster and to play faster and all that.”

Florida has received help in the secondary through the transfer portal. Jadarrius Perkins arrived this summer from Missouri, and Elijah Blades just made it to campus in time for fall camp. The Gators also have a true freshman in Jason Marshall, who was running second string behind Hill. While it's never good to lose a player for an extended period of time, Florida does have depth at cornerback to make up for the loss.