GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Florida has had three spring practices so far, and Dan Mullen has seen his responsibilities decrease...slightly.

"I think the understanding of what's expected has changed within the program an awful lot, with the players," explained the Gators head coach. "I don't know that my role has changed as much as their understanding of the things that I have to do... I just don't have to do that as much."

Last season, the Gators staff spent a lot of time teaching new schemes but also pushing the players to their limits on the field physically and mentally.

This season Mullen and company are blessed with veterans that have done this before.

"Guys that are trying to set the standard as leaders within the team, their job is to set the bar high and pull everybody up to that level. Not meet them somewhere in the middle," said Mullen.

Last season, Mullen wanted more leaders to step up. There were times it seemed the Gators just lacked that loud voice. That does not seem to be the case this spring.

It helps that players like linebacker David Reese or running back Lamical Perine are not learning a whole new playbook this spring.

"If I’m a veteran player on the team, and this time last Spring you’re trying to learn the offense and defense, you’ve never been to one of our practices before, so you know what I mean, all of it is new," said Mullen. "Now if I’m one of the older guys on the team I know the offensive and defensive scheme, I know what I’m supposed to and how I’m supposed to act in practice, I’ve played a bunch of football so I have experience within the game and I can really try and raise the level of players around me and try and pull them up. And I think it’s much easier to do in Year 2 when you have that understanding of it.

"Usually the best teams are the ones that have been around are when you’re a guy who’s a great player, had leadership, personality strengths, and is the leader of your team, combines all of them," said Mullen. "Like has the work ethic, is going to do things the right way, and is also a great player and is a good leader, leads your team, you have a lot more success. So I think there is a comfort when you look at some of the guys that have been around, have paid some dues, are good players, have respect of their teammates and try and do things the right way, that helps. And that is comforting as a coach.”

Lucas Krull gaining confidence; hurts shoulder

There are a few players that remain day-to-day like Shawn Davis and Jacob Copeland, however, there is another player added to that list, Lucas Krull.

Krull injured his shoulder when he fell awkwardly during the second practice this spring.

"He got banged up the other day at practice with a shoulder, unfortunately. And it’s one of those rules that I guess the NCAA says that it’s supposed to keep you safe, that you can’t have any padding on, and he fell on the ground and hurt his shoulder," said Mullen. "If he had any bit of padding on, he wouldn’t have gotten injured. It’s a rule that causes players to be injured. It’s not about player safety. It’s about getting guys hurt, unfortunately."

Although the tight end did not participate last practice due to the injury, it's safe to say that the tight end is expected to feature heavily next season.

Krull had to relearn the game of football when he arrived on campus last summer. The former baseball pitcher had not played the game in three years.

"I think his comfort level right now is growing. I think that year in football, I think one of the huge things in his deal that he had is as a transfer, he was a three-for-three transfer. He didn’t have a redshirt year available. A lot of times guys transfer in and they still have a redshirt year available. They use that year to get them a little experience," said Mullen. "But to redshirt Lucas, by being a three-for-three instead of a three-for-two type of transfer, we’re able to get him into games and get him the experience all throughout the season.

"He’s a guy that’s got to be a key contributor to us this year," added Mullen. "Our tight ends, is one of the most important positions on the team cause if you watch us of what we ask them to do; I mean they’re playing wide receiver some times, they’re playing slot receiver some times, they’re a motion H-back sometimes, they’re an on the line tight end sometimes, so we ask them to do an awful lot so I think that year of experience now, kinda breaking back into football helps him as he gets into this year now."

Gator Chomps:

On Chris Steele:

"Seems good, you know. I think one of the things, we have a veteran receiver corps so he's going to be going against some pretty good receivers. And I think that will help as time goes on. Anytime you get the number of reps -- like I said, when you practice up, and he's running with the one defense at times, when you're practicing up at that level, you're looking around, those guys are going to want to hold you to that standard of what's expected. And so that can increase your sense of urgency, increase your performance on the field. Also, I think, build a confidence in him as he moves forward, that 'I've gone against good players, I've done it at practice against some really good guys and have been put in those situations so when the game time comes, I'm ready to play as a freshman.'"

Amari Burney at linebacker

"I think one, he's very athletic guy that has grown. When you look, he's a big athletic guy and as he continues to grow, it's a position ... we love to be athletic on defense. And he brings a great deal of athleticism to the defense as he's growing into the position. You're starting to see his comfort. One of the things last year, he was playing star for us, he was very comfortable playing in space. He can run people down. And at the money linebacker, it's an important thing to have that athleticism to be able to make plays in space. You see a guy that is getting comfortable with the fits in tight in between tackles. As he gets comfortable with that, he'll end up becoming an excellent linebacker."