Malik Davis feels great to be back

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- As you watch Florida grind at practice it's hard to miss No. 20. Malik Davis is a versatile, quick runner, who has an ability to make explosive plays.

He is also the one that may sneak in a little smirk here and there after a drill.

"It's a great feeling to finally be back out here," said Davis

Davis is happy to be back. The Florida running back has not had the easiest time in Gainesville. The Tampa native tore his ACL his freshman season and then broke his foot just three games into the 2018 season.

"I worked hard all season," said Davis. "I had great guys around me that motivated me and just always kept me up. I've been waiting so long to finally be able to come out and play football again."

"He’s an electric running back, great play maker," said fellow running back Lamical Perine. "He’s a guy we can use on this offense. He’s a good friend of mine as well.”

With the loss of Jordan Scarlett to the NFL draft, Davis is a welcome sight to the very talented running back group.

“That’s my guy. It’s a good feeling to see my boy out there," said defensive lineman Zach Carter. "I know he’s been through a lot. It’s really hard mentally to battle through a lot of injuries, but I think he’s dealt with it well. I’m glad to see him back out there.”

“It’s good to see him back healthy. He looks like he’s playing confidently," Florida head coach Dan Mullen said. "I try to keep an eye on him and just see. He looks very confident."

Davis has a team-best 6.4 yards per carry average. Although he was Hillsborough County's all-time leading rusher, Davis also was an underrated prospect coming out of high school, however, he quickly demonstrated why many programs were after him.

Davis made quite the impression his freshman season, however, was sidelined with his first major injury of his career, his ACL tear.

When he came back, he was required to learn a new offense and then had to compete with both Scarlett and Perine for reps - remember Scarlett missed 2017 due to his suspension.

Davis made an impression and was winning significant playing time - that is until he suffered yet another injury in Florida's win against Colorado State.

"When I went down, I felt something funny, but I didn't know what it was until I went to the sideline," recounted Davis. "I thought 'Not again.' But then I thought, 'God makes everything happen for a reason.' So I just sat back, and it just makes you look around and just pay attention to what's going on around you."

Davis admits the first night was the worst, however, he quickly reminded himself that he needed to have the right mindset so he can return to the field quicker.

“Frustrated at first, but then I just try to control what I can control. So I wasn’t sitting around feeling sorry for myself or anything," said Davis. "I just knew I had to work hard if I wanted to get back out here. Probably like two days later, I was like ‘Alright, it’s time to get to work.’”

And he worked. And worked. And worked.

According to Davis, he leaned on several of his teammates like Perine, Dameon Pierce, Marco Wilson, who was also sidelined with an injury, and Van Jefferson and of course Director of Strength and Conditioning, Nick Savage.

“I talked to a few guys on the team, but another guy I talked to was Van Jefferson. We had a few talks and he always motivated me, he was just always someone I could talk to when I needed someone to talk to," said Davis. "And I’m not just singling him out, because like I said, there’s a lot of guys on the team that I spoke to and all of them motivated me.”

Davis woke up early everyday - rehabbing three times a day, working out two or three times a day.

"Doing whatever the coaches asked me," said Davis. "I knew they wasn't going to tell me anything that was going to hurt me, so I just listened to them and do whatever they told me to come back."

He relied on Savage just like he relied on him when he was returning from his knee injury on year before.

“When he first got here, I was coming off a knee injury and I was one of the first guys to work out with him, we were just working out one on one," said Davis. "You see he has a lot of juice. When we come out here and we hear him screaming, it just motivates everyone. Some guys come out and feel like, ‘Oh, I’m not ready,’ but when you see him and you turn him up, he just makes you want to come out and work out.”

His hard work paid off.

Now Davis is fully participating in Florida's spring practice preparing for the season ahead.

“Some people may say no, I don’t look rusty, but to me I feel a little rusty," said Davis. "But I’m getting back in the groove. When I sit back and watch film with a teammate, they’ll be like ‘Oh, you look good,’ but to myself I’ll be thinking, I could have did this, I could have did that. But that’s just me thinking in my head.”

"It’s going to be important for him to pick it up because he missed a good deal of reps last year," added Mullen. "Even though being on the team, being in meetings, understand and learning it, not physically – there’s a difference between learning it in the classroom and being able to apply it on the field. But so far I think he’s done a pretty good job of applying that. As we continue to go, I’d like to see the confidence build in his application of the offense.”

Although he has had two major injuries in a row, Davis is not playing scared.

“Definitely not. That’s one thing you can’t do is play scared," he said. "Especially in the game of football, because it’s a major contact sport. So as long as you’re not out there playing scared, you’ll be fine.”

He is now ready to compete with his fellow teammates and return to the game he missed.

"I feel like a lot of people take the game for granted. When you're out with an injury and you're hurt, it just makes you love the game even more."